NICOLAS GARCIA / AFP
A screenshot from an AFP report showing Ryan Wesley Routh in 2022. The suspect in the second attempt on Donald Trump’s life has been charged.
UNITED STATES – The man suspected of trying to shoot Donald Trump in Florida, Ryan Routh, has been charged with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, US judicial authorities announced on Tuesday, September 24.
Ryan Routh, 58, was arrested on September 15 after being put on the run by Secret Service agents who spotted him with a gun near the golf course where Donald Trump was playing.
The suspect was previously charged with illegal possession of a weapon due to his criminal record and possession of a weapon with an obliterated serial number.
The new indictment was issued late Tuesday by a “grand jury” – a citizens’ commission with investigative powers – in Miami, Florida (southeast), the Justice Department said in a statement.
Ryan Routh held in custody
The case was randomly assigned to Judge Aileen Cannon, who in July ruled strongly in favor of the former Republican president in another case.
In addition to the two initial charges, he was charged with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, possession of a firearm with intent to commit a violent crime, and assault on a federal agent.
The latter count refers to the Secret Service agent he is accused of obstructing the former president’s mission to protect him during his golf game. A federal judge ruled Monday that Ryan Routh should remain in custody.
Second assassination attempt against Trump
According to the FBI’s analysis of his phone tracking, he had been in Florida since August 18 and his devices were located multiple times between that date and September 15 near Donald Trump’s golf course and his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Before being spotted and put on the run, he had also spent nearly 12 hours near Donald Trump’s golf club, the prosecution said last week.
The former Republican president had already narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on July 13 when a shooter opened fire during a rally in Pennsylvania (northeast), hitting him in the ear and killing a member of the audience.
In addition, Donald Trump’s campaign team indicated on Tuesday that it had been informed by American intelligence of threats “real and concrete” assassination attempt against the Republican candidate, emanating from Iran.
According to the campaign official, citing US intelligence, these “continuous and coordinated attacks” have intensified “in the last few months”. Accusations of a similar nature had been rejected by Iran during the summer and described as “malicious”
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