US Looks to File Attempted Murder Charges Against Trump Suspect

 

● Judge orders Routh held pending trial
●The suspect was arrested on September 15 and faces two counts of possession of a firearm
●The planned new charge carries a life sentence if convicted

The U.S. Justice Department plans to charge a man accused of hiding with a gun at former President Donald Trump’s Florida golf course with attempting to assassinate a prominent political candidate, facing a life sentence if convicted, a prosecutor said Monday.

U.S. District Judge Ryon McCabe has ordered Ryan Routh, 58, to remain in jail without bail while awaiting trial on two weapons charges he was charged with after his arrest Sept. 15.

McCabe said prosecutors had documented Routh’s attempt to “stalk” Trump over a roughly month-long period in South Florida “in an apparent attempt to assassinate him.”

Prosecutor Mark Dispoto said the Justice Department will ask a grand jury to bring the more serious attempted murder charge against Routh, who was handcuffed and shackled at the waist during a hearing before McCabe, where prosecutors detailed some of the evidence they had gathered against him.

Routh had written a letter months earlier, prosecutors said, in which he referred to an “assassination attempt” on the Republican presidential candidate and a $150,000 bounty on his life.

Dispoto also set up a “sniper nest” near the sixth hole of Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach in an attempt to kill him, Dispoto said, but was stopped when a U.S. Secret Service agent opened fire after seeing a rifle sticking out of the fence.

“It was an easy shot,” Dispoto said of Routh’s position, adding that Trump would arrive in that area about 15 minutes later.

Lawyers representing Routh unsuccessfully sought his release on $250,000 bail, questioning the prosecution’s evidence and arguing that Routh attempted to aid democracies, including Ukraine and Taiwan.

Routh wore a navy blue jumpsuit during the hearing. He did not speak.

Prosecutors said that several months before the incident, Routh had left a box containing ammunition, a metal pipe, four phones and a handwritten letter addressed to “the world” offering a bounty on Trump at the home of an unidentified civilian witness.

“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you,” the suspect wrote, according to a court filing by prosecutors. “I will offer $150,000 to anyone who can complete the job.” [Reuters]

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