Man Charged in Apparent Trump Plot Left Note: ‘This Was an Assassination Attempt’

A court document submitted by federal prosecutors on Monday showed that Ryan Routh, the suspect in the apparent second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, allegedly penned a handwritten note that said it “was an assassination attempt” on the former president.

The document was filed before a federal judge denied bond during a Monday court hearing, agreeing with prosecutors’ arguments that Routh is a flight risk and a risk to the community and should be held before his trial.

Routh dropped off a box at a person’s home that included the letter, the court documents state.

Law enforcement officials were contacted on Sept. 18, three days after Routh was arrested, by a person who said that Routh dropped off the box at his location in the months prior to the incident. The witness opened the box after learning of Routh’s arrest, finding ammunition, phones, and various letters, according to the court documents.

Prosecutors said the note and other evidence found at the scene show a need for Routh to be detained while the government builds its case against him. A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday morning at a federal court in Florida.

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“Because the facts are offered for the limited purpose of supporting the United States’s request for pretrial detention, the facts in this written proffer do not set forth all of the information and evidence known to the United States in this ongoing investigation,” the court documents state.

Prosecutors 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,” the court documents state.

“[The former President] ended relations with Iran like a child and now the Middle East has unraveled,” Routh allegedly wrote in one of the documents, according to the court papers.

Cellphone records from two of the recovered phones show that Routh traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach on Aug. 14, prosecutors wrote.

Further, on “multiple days and times from Aug. 18, 2024, to Sept. 15, 2024, Routh’s cellphone accessed cell towers located near Trump International and the former president’s residence at Mar-a-Lago,” the filing said.

A cellphone that was recovered by authorities showed a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County, Florida, to Mexico. Federal officials also found a list with dates in August, September, and October as well as venues where the former president had appeared and was scheduled to appear, prosecutors said.

Posts made by Routh on X and other social media sites show that he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict, even posting images and videos of himself in Kyiv and other areas in Ukraine since the war started. He also made critical comments about Trump, including several in July that referenced the first assassination attempt.

Routh faces federal firearms charges in connection to the Sept. 15 alleged assassination attempt. Prosecutors say that Routh, 58, camped out near Trump’s Florida golf course for 12 hours before his gun barrel was spotted by a Secret Service agent, who then fired at the suspect before he fled the scene.

Authorities also discovered an SKS-style rifle with 11 rounds, including one round in the chamber, according to the court papers. Officials previously said that the suspect did not fire any shots and had no direct line of sight to Trump, who was golfing at the time of the incident. The former president also was not harmed.

In July, Trump survived the first assassination attempt against him, during which he was shot in the ear by a gunman who fired at a rally while he was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania. The incident prompted questions about the Secret Service’s ability to protect him.

The FBI said that when its agents attempted to interview Routh after he was detained on Sept. 15, he invoked his right to an attorney. Routh has not entered a plea.