By EFE
Sep 23, 2024, 4:46 PM EDT
MIAMI – Ryan Routh, suspected of attempting to assassinate former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021) on September 15 on a golf course in South Florida, will remain in prison, a federal judge ruled on Monday.
Judge Ryon McCabe thus granted the request made by prosecutors, who had asked that the 58-year-old man, who faces two federal firearms charges, not be granted bail because he constitutes a threat to public safety.
The U.S. Justice Department filed a brief today, hours before the hearing began, disclosing new information about the case, including a pre-written letter in which Routh acknowledged his failed attempt to kill Trump.
The judge referred precisely to this letter and to other elements presented by the Prosecutor’s Office to determine that the suspect remain in custody while the judicial process advances, in view of the “weight” of the evidence presented so far against Routh.
In the handwritten letter, which was found inside a box Routh left for another person months earlier, the suspect confessed: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I am so sorry I failed you.”
During the hearing, held in a federal court in West Palm Beach, prosecutors also referred to fingerprints that matched Routh’s and were discovered on a piece of adhesive tape on the rifle that the detainee had abandoned at the place where he was hiding.
On the day of the incident, the man was spotted by a Secret Service agent, who discovered him armed with a semi-automatic rifle hidden behind some bushes near the sixth hole of a golf course in West Palm Beach, owned by Trump, while he was with a group of friends one hole behind.
The officer, who noticed the barrel of the rifle sticking out of the bushes and pointed at him, shot the suspect, who fled the scene without ever firing his weapon, according to prosecutors.
Routh was stopped by local police about 45 minutes later while driving a vehicle north on an interstate highway.
When FBI agents searched Routh’s location on the perimeter of the golf course, they discovered a loaded rifle with a scratched and illegible serial number, as well as a telescopic sight, a digital camera, a backpack and a bag.
The FBI’s analysis of the six cell phones with which the detainee was found reveals that on August 14 he traveled from North Carolina to West Palm Beach and since then he has been hanging around the golf course as well as Mar-a-Lago, the social club and Trump’s residence in Florida.
Similarly, a list of sites and events between the months of August and September where Trump was present or was expected to be present was found.
Routh, who currently resides in Hawaii and has a criminal record in other states, wrote that he felt guilty for having elected a president “who turned out to be a jerk.”
Various posts Routh has made recently on the Internet reveal his staunch defence of Ukraine, whose army he unsuccessfully tried to enlist in to fight against the Russians.
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