By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - A federal grand jury in Miami, Florida indicted Ryan Routh, 58, with attempted assassination in relation to this month's attempt on ex-President Donald Trump's life, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
“Violence targeting public officials endangers everything our country stands for, and the Department of Justice will use every available tool to hold Ryan Routh accountable for the attempted assassination of former President Trump charged in the indictment,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate violence that strikes at the heart of our democracy, and we will find and hold accountable those who perpetrate it. This must stop," he added.
The new charges adds to an initial set of firearms offenses on which Routh had previously been indicted shortly after he was taken into custody on a Florida highway Sept. 15.
Routh has now been charged with a single count of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Routh left a box with a 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 Monday. The judge in the case agreed to keep Routh behind bars.
The witness told investigators that he opened the box after hearing of the 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.