Gunman left note in case Trump assassination attempt failed
By Brett Rowland
The Center Square
Prosecutors said the man facing gun charges after attempting to kill former President Donald Trump on a Florida golf course left a note urging someone to complete the job if he failed.
Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old who lived in Hawaii, left the note with a person federal prosecutors described as a civilian witness several months before the Sept. 15 incident. The person reached out to law enforcement on Sept. 18, according to court records filed Monday. The letter offered money to anyone who would finish the job.
"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,' " the letter said. "It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job."
One handwritten letter, addressed to "The World," stated, among other things, "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."
Prosecutors filed new documents in the case ahead of a pre-trial hearing. The documents provided new details about Routh's attempt to kill the former President as he challenges Kamala Harris for the White House in 2024. The documents show Routh had been planning to kill Trump for months.
Routh had an SKS-style rifle with a scope. He hung a backpack and another bag along the fence line outside the green of the sixth hole. The bags both contained plates that subsequent testing showed could stop small-arms fire.
Federal agents found Routh's backpack and shopping bag both contained plates. Subsequent preliminary ballistics testing showed the plates were capable of stopping small arms fire, according to prosecutors.
The rifle contained a total of 11 rounds and had a round in the chamber. The serial number on the rifle was obliterated and unreadable, prosecutors said.
In Routh's vehicle, a Nissan Xterra, FBI agents found two additional license plates and six phones. One of the phones contained a Google search of how to get from Palm Beach County to Mexico. The agents also found 12 pairs of gloves, Routh's Hawaii driver's license, his passport and other documents.
Those included a handwritten list of dates in August, September, and October 2024 and venues where Trump had appeared or was expected to be present. Agents also found a notebook with dozens of pages filled with names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine, discussions about how to join combat on behalf of Ukraine, and notes criticizing the governments of China and Russia, according to prosecutors.
On the SKS rifle with the obliterated serial number, agents found a latent fingerprint on a piece of tape attached to the weapon. Agents matched the print to Routh, prosecutors said.
The witness who called police, opened the box Routh had left. The witness said the box contained ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones and various letters, including the letter address to "The World."
Long before Trump decided to play golf at his club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 15, Routh was camped by the fence along Summit Boulevard, a busy roadway by Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach.
A U.S. Secret Service agent, a hole ahead of Trump walking the perimeter, spotted a rifle sticking out from the tree line. The agent fired in the direction of the rifle before a witness told authorities Routh sped away in a Nissan sport utility vehicle.
Routh's cell phone records indicated he had been camped out from 1:59 a.m. to 1:31 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15, according to a criminal complaint filed in the federal case. Investigators found an SKS-style rifle with a scope and an unreadable serial number, a backpack, a bag of food and a GoPro camera.
Authorities caught Routh on Interstate 95. He remains in custody ahead of trial.
Routh faces federal charges of possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
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