Suspect in assassination attempt allegedly wrote a letter about Trump
Ryan Routh allegedly wrote a letter months before his visit to Trump International Golf Course calling the trip an “assassination attempt.”
The man accused of trying to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump with a rifle at a South Florida golf course in 2024 appeared before a group of potential jurors on Sept. 8.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Ryan Routh, 59, methodically plotted to kill Trump and concealed himself with a rifle near the sixth hole of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Sept. 15, 2024. Prosecutors say Routh had intended to shoot Trump while he was playing a round of golf.
A U.S. Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of a rifle poking through a chain-link fence and opened fire, prompting the suspect to drop his own weapon and flee, according to court documents. Routh was later arrested about 41 miles from the golf course.
Prosecutors say that the incident was the second assassination attempt on Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign. About two months before the second incident, Trump was grazed in the ear with a bullet while speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooter was later killed by Secret Service agents.
Routh, a resident of Hawaii and former Trump supporter, faces charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and several weapons violations. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
If convicted, Routh could be sentenced to life in prison.
The trial in federal court in Fort Pierce, Florida, began with jury selection on Sept. 8. While Routh has fired his legal team — he decided to represent himself in court — “standby counsel” will be in court through the trial to assist him.
Here’s what we know about the suspect and the assassination claims.
Prosecutors: Routh assembled a ‘sniper’s nest’
While Trump was golfing at Trump International, a Secret Service agent conducting a perimeter security sweep observed a partially hidden face in the brush along the fence line near the sixth hole, according to court documents and federal prosecutors.
The agent then spotted the barrel of a rifle that was aimed directly at him, court documents state. As the agent began to back away, he saw the barrel of the rifle and opened fire.
At the time the agent detected Routh, Trump was a few hundred yards away near the fifth hole of the course, prosecutors have said. He would have been on the sixth hole within about 15 minutes.
A witness reported seeing a man, later identified as Routh, running across the road from the golf course and getting a vehicle, according to court documents. Local sheriff’s deputies later apprehended Routh on Interstate 95 at about Mile Marker 112 in Martin County, Treasure Coast Newspapers, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.
Prosecutors accused Routh of assembling a “sniper’s nest” with a view of the sixth hole of the golf course. Court documents alleged that during the investigation, FBI agents discovered a SKS semiautomatic rifle with a scope attached and an extended magazine in the area where Routh had been hiding.
“The serial number on the rifle was obliterated and unreadable,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. “Hanging from the fence was a backpack and a reusable shopping bag that each contained a plate capable of stopping small arms fire.”
Prosecutors have also alleged that Routh wrote a letter about the assassination attempt months before the incident, which he left with an acquaintance. The letter was addressed “Dear World,” and stated, among other things, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you.”
Ryan Routh’s criminal history
Prosecutors have said Routh was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in 2002 and 2010. USA TODAY previously reported that the North Carolina Judicial Branch, which includes Guilford County where Routh had many previous addresses, listed more than 200 court cases involving Routh, ranging from companies trying to recoup money allegedly owed them to tax delinquencies.
Reuters reported that Routh lost his right to own a firearm in 2002 when he pleaded guilty to a felony for possessing an illegal explosive device. He was later released on bond and was arrested again for having a concealed handgun without a permit after fleeing from a traffic stop and barricading himself inside his roofing business, according to court records.
He then pleaded guilty to possession of what court records described as a “binary explosive with a 10-inch detonation cord and a blasting cap,” and was sentenced to probation, Reuters reported. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to felonies after he was charged with possession of stolen goods, including a blowtorch, a pull-cart, and a power cord, according to court records.
Routh also previously worked as a roofer and contractor, but court records showed that business dealings often went sour and that he was repeatedly sued by people who accused him of not paying his bills.
Around 2018, Routh moved to Hawaii and launched a company that offered small and affordable, custom-built homes. But a customer told USA TODAY in September 2024 that he had given Routh a large deposit for a project that was never completed.
Routh’s political activity
Online activity showed that Routh supported Ukraine in the war with Russia. He advocated on social media for Ukraine to get assistance in defending against Russia’s invasion.
In spring 2022, Routh suggested in a series of X posts that he had traveled to Ukraine to fight on behalf of the beleaguered country. In one post, he tweeted at President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s account, telling him, “I am an American coming to fight with you in Ukraine; I am flying into Krakow and will take any transport to Kyiv to meet you and fight to the death … We must get every civilian in the world to come and join the fight; I will be the example. Attack Moscow now.”
Routh also wrote in a self-published book in 2023 that he voted for Trump in 2016, but said he later regretted his decision because of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. But public records reviewed by USA TODAY last year indicated that Routh had cast ballots in general and municipal elections going back many cycles, including 2008 and 2012 − though not in 2016, when Trump first ran.
While records suggest he is not affiliated with a party, they also showed that Routh voted Democratic in the 2024 primary election in Guilford County, North Carolina.
Contributing: Christopher Cann, Rick Jervis, and Will Carless, USA TODAY; Hannah Phillips, Palm Beach Post; Reuters
