As more details emerge about the most recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, it is becoming clear that he came a lot closer to losing his life than initial reports made it seem – and the more we know about his would-be assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, the more questions we have.
Routh sat in the trees surrounding a golf course in Florida where Trump was golfing earlier this month, waiting with a rifle until he could take his shot. It turns out that he had been staking out the president as well as his golf course for several weeks, traveling from North Carolina to West Palm Beach in mid-August and visiting Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and golf course on numerous occasions in the month leading up to the assassination attempt.
After seeing his rifle poking out of the tree line of the golf course several holes ahead of Trump's location, a Secret Service agent fired at Routh, and he was then observed by a witness fleeing the scene and driving away. The former president was said to be between 12 and 15 minutes away from reaching the sixth hole, where Routh was set up and would have had a clear shot of just 100 feet. However, law enforcement eventually caught up with him, spotting his car on a nearby highway and arresting him.
Routh had a rifle with its serial number scratched off and a bullet in its chamber. He also had bags that contained armored plates that could withstand shots from the types of pistols typically carried by Secret Service agents. Prosecutor Mark Dispoto described Routh's setup as “nothing short of a sniper position” and “something you might see in a movie or a war zone.”
They also discovered he had two extra sets of license plates, along with six cell phones and 12 pairs of gloves. One of the phones had looked up an escape route he could take from Palm Beach to Mexico. It is not clear how he obtained the fake license plates. Agents also found a fingerprint belonging to him on a piece of tape attaching a scope to the rifle that was found just outside the golf course.
Routh gave mystery box to civilian witness ahead of assassination attempt
Details have also been released about a mysterious box he gave to a civilian witness several months ago with four cell phones, metal materials, pipes, ammo and hand-written letters.
The witness reportedly took a photo of the first page of the letter and forwarded it to the FBI a few days after Routh’s assassination attempt on the president. The letter is said to claim that Routh wanted to kill Trump because he thought he was unfit for office and would destroy America’s moral fabric, echoing a common refrain made by Biden in his speeches in the run-up to the election.
Although the witness claims to have received the box well before the attempt, the letter it contained correctly predicted that Routh would fail to kill Trump. It stated: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.” He also referred to Trump’s handling of Iran and the Middle East as motivation in the letter.
The 58-year-old was charged with two firearm-related offenses last week but is expected to face more serious charges as the investigation into the assassination attempt goes on.
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