Prosecutors says Trump gunman left note saying, 'Dear World, This was an assassination attempt'

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The man authorities identified as the gunman at ex-President Donald Trump's Florida golf course earlier this month left a note with a friend saying "this was an assassination attempt," prosecutors said in court filings Monday.

Ryan Routh, 58, left a box with the note inside with a friend several months before he hid with a rifle at the gate of Trump's West Palm Beach, Florida golf course, prosecutors wrote in a memo supporting his continued pretrial detention ahead of a hearing Monday.

The witness told investigators that he opened the box after hearing of the Sept. 15 assassination attempt and inside found the note, a metal pipe, ammunition, four cellphones, and several letters.

"Dear World, This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job," said the note, a picture of which is contained in the court filing.

"Everyone across the globe from the youngest to the oldest know that Trump is unfit to be anything, much less a US president," it added.

A Secret Service agent opened fire while Trump was golfing at his golf course after seeing a rifle barrel sticking out of a chain link fence surrounding the property. Two bags hung from the fence contained ballistic plates capable of stopping small arms fire, according to court records.

The disclosure of the note's existence came as prosecutors said cellphone records indicate Routh had been at or near the golf course and Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate "on multiple days and times" since Aug. 18.

Routh is currently being held on gun charges, with prosecutors expected to file additional charges before the case goes to trial.

The Sept. 15 incident, which authorities have said is being treated as an apparent assassination attempt, was the second time in as many months that somebody tried to kill the former president.

A July 13 shooting during a political rally in Pennsylvania left Trump slightly wounded when a bullet grazed his ear. The shooter, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was killed when Secret Service agents returned fire.