The man accused of an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a Florida golf course reportedly left behind a note detailing his plans to kill Trump and kept a handwritten list of dates and venues where the former president was scheduled to appear, according to the Justice Department.
In a detention memo filed ahead of a hearing on Monday, prosecutors argued that 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh should remain in custody as the case progresses. U.S. Magistrate Ryon McCabe agreed, stating that the “weight of the evidence against the defendant is strong” and ordered Routh to stay behind bars.
The memo outlines the allegations that Routh had a premeditated plan to kill Trump, which was reportedly thwarted by a Secret Service agent who noticed a rifle protruding from shrubbery at the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing.
The note, found in a box delivered months earlier to an unidentified recipient, expressed Routh’s frustrations and a willingness to pay $150,000 to anyone who could complete the assassination. “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,” the note stated, according to prosecutors.
Routh’s attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Cellphone records revealed that Routh traveled from Greensboro to West Palm Beach in mid-August and was near Trump’s golf club and Mar-a-Lago on multiple occasions between August 18 and the day of the attempted assassination. He was arrested on Sunday afternoon after a Secret Service agent, monitoring the Trump International Golf Club for potential threats, spotted Routh and the barrel of a semiautomatic rifle aimed in his direction. The agent fired at Routh, who fled before being apprehended by law enforcement in a neighboring county.
According to the Secret Service, Routh did not fire any shots and never had Trump in his direct line of sight.
Following his arrest, authorities discovered six cellphones in Routh’s vehicle, one of which contained a Google search about traveling from Palm Beach County to Mexico. They also found a list of dates and venues where Trump had appeared or was scheduled to appear, along with a notebook filled with criticisms of the Russian and Chinese governments and notes about joining the war on behalf of Ukraine.
The memo further indicated that Routh authored a book last year in which he criticized Trump’s foreign policy, specifically mentioning that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump” after the former president exited the nuclear deal.
Routh is charged with illegal possession of a firearm, having multiple felony convictions, including past charges of possessing stolen goods in North Carolina. More serious charges could be forthcoming in the following weeks as the investigation continues.