WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Askume) – The man accused of stalking Donald Trump’s Florida golf course with a rifle was charged on Tuesday with attempted murder of a political candidate, federal prosecutors said.
Ryan Routh, 58, already faces two gun-related charges after authorities say he was golfing at a golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15 when Republican presidential candidate Trump pointed his rifle over a fence. He has been ordered to remain in jail pending trial.
“The Department of Justice will not tolerate violence that attacks the core of our democracy, and we will find and hold accountable those responsible. This behavior must stop,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
A federal grand jury in Miami returned the indictment Tuesday afternoon, the Justice Department said. The attempted murder charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The case is assigned to US District Judge Ellen Cannon, who in July dismissed a criminal case that alleged Trump illegally kept classified documents after he left office .
Lotter has not yet entered a plea. His lawyers have tried unsuccessfully to get him released on bail.
Prosecutors have in recent days revealed evidence suggesting a plot to assassinate Trump. They claim that months before the incident, Rouse handed an unidentified person a letter suggesting an “attempt to assassinate Donald Trump.”
They said Routh spent a month in South Florida and cellphone data showed he was near golf courses and Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. He was found with a handwritten list of dates and locations where Trump had spoken or was expected to speak, according to court documents.
Prosecutors say US officers were searching the golf course ahead of Trump. A Secret Service agent spotted a gun sticking out of a fence and opened fire, causing Rouse to flee. He was arrested on a Florida highway less than an hour later.
Rouse was initially charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
