Sept. 24 (UPI) — Federal prosecutors charged Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, with the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate Tuesday in the U.S.District Court for Southern Florida.
“The attempted assassination of the former president is a heinous act,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters during a news conference Tuesday.
“I am grateful that he is safe,” Garland said. “The Justice Department will spare no resource to ensure accountability.”
Federal prosecutors say Routh “did forcibly assault, oppose, impede, intimidate and interfere with” a Secret Service agent, who discovered Routh hiding among trees overlooking the Trump International Golf Club. Former President Donald Trump owns the club and was playing golf on Sept. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The prosecutors also charged Routh with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer.
They earlier charged Routh with removing a firearm’s serial number and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The prosecutors say Routh created a list of venues and dates from August to October where Trump either appeared or was scheduled to appear while campaigning for a second term as president.
Prosecutors also say Routh months ago sent a letter to a witness in which he said, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you.”
According to prosecutors, the only reason Routh was in West Palm Beach on Sept. 15 and in August was to assassinate Trump.
A Secret Service agent thwarted Routh’s plan when he spotted the barrel of an SKS-style rifle with a scope protruding from the treeline located near the sixth green on the golf course. The agent opened fire on Routh, who fled the scene but was arrested on a nearby highway.
Secret Service agents escorted Trump to a safe location while police searched for the suspect.
The case is assigned to Judge Aileen Cannon with an arraignment hearing scheduled for Monday. Cannon recently dismissed special counsel Jack Smith’s case against Trump, accusing him of violating federal law by retaining classified documents.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a House bill requiring equal Secret Service protection for major party candidates after Trump survived the second assassination attempt on Sept. 15.
An earlier assassination attempt made by Matthew Crooks, 20, during Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13 ended with a Secret Service sniper shooting Crooks dead after he struck Trump’s right ear and killed a bystander.
The proposed legislation goes to President Joe Biden for consideration.