By Raul Castillo
Sep 16, 2024, 3:26 PM EDT
Martin County police in Florida have released video of the moment they captured Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Sunday.
The video shows the man following police instructions and was taken into custody without incident.
“Driver, take two steps to the right! Take two steps to the right! Driver, back up and keep walking,” an unidentified deputy was heard and seen yelling at the suspect. Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told NBC News that this deputy was the same one who spotted Routh’s car and initiated the arrest.
At that moment, Wesley Routh is apparently seen with a T-shirt over his head, exposing his abdomen, with his hands up. The video then shows two police officers holding his hands and handcuffing him.
The suspect was arrested while driving on Interstate 95. His capture was made possible by a witness who spotted Routh and alerted authorities by sending a photograph of the vehicle and the license plate number, Snyder told NBC News.
“He was just driving with the flow of traffic. Yeah, I think he may have thought he got away with it,” Snyder told reporters Monday. “Of course, he couldn’t have known that there was a witness who actually did the right thing, took a picture of him, took a picture of the license plate. And he was just going to drive back to where he came from.”
Will appear before a court
Ryan Wesley Routh is scheduled to appear in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday. He has been charged with two federal counts: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
He is being represented by a public defender and is due back in court for a bail hearing next Monday, September 23.
The man was arrested after allegedly pointing an AK-47 assault rifle at former President Trump while he was playing golf.
Upon seeing the suspect with the rifle, the Secret Service shot him and he ran away from some bushes where he was hiding. It was then that the witness informed the authorities and subsequently led to his arrest.
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