A man has appeared in court charged with federal gun crimes after former US president Donald Trump was the target of what the FBI said “appears to be an attempted assassination” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, entered a Florida courtroom on Monday morning wearing a dark blue jumpsuit and with his arms and legs shackled.
During an eight-minute hearing, prosecutors levied two charges against him: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Officials said Routh could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the first charge, and a possible five-year sentence on the second charge.
A bond hearing has been scheduled for September 23, and a probable cause hearing or arraignment has been set for September 30, depending on whether the government secures an indictment on the charges.
Mobile phone records show that Routh was near the golf course for about 12 hours before being confronted by a Secret Service agent, according to court documents unsealed on Monday.
Officials said in the documents that Routh’s mobile phone was shown near tree line at Mr Trump’s golf course from 1.59am until 1.31pm on Sunday. A Secret Service agent shot at Routh after seeing his rifle through the tree line. Routh fled in an SUV being being arrested by local law enforcement in a neighbouring county.
During the hearing, Routh gave routine information to court officials as to his work status and income. Speaking in a soft voice, he said that he was working and making around 3,000 dollars (£2,272) a month, but has no savings.
Routh said that he has no property or assets, aside from two trucks worth about 1,000 dollars, both located in Hawaii.
Routh also said that he has a 25-year-old son, whom he sometimes supports.
He smiled as he spoke to his lawyer and reviewed documents.
The incident came just nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee, who has said he is safe and well, survived another attempt on his life.
US Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Mr Trump was playing golf noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away.
Routh was later stopped by police in a neighbouring county.
Records show Routh lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Hawaii in 2018.
In 2020, he made a social media post backing Mr Trump’s re-election, but in more recent years his posts have expressed support for President Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris.
The FBI is leading the investigation and working to determine any motive.
US attorney general Merrick Garland is receiving regular updates.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are helping investigate.
It was the latest jarring moment in a campaign year marked by unprecedented upheaval.
On July 13, Mr Trump was shot during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a bullet grazed his ear.
Eight days later, Democrat Mr Biden withdrew from the race, giving way for Ms Harris to become the party’s nominee.
And it spawned new questions about Secret Service protective operations after the agency’s admitted failures in preventing the assassination attempt this summer.
In an email to supporters, Mr Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”
He wrote: “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”
Mr Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach where he lives, according to a person familiar with Mr Trump’s movements.
It was not immediately clear how the development would affect his schedule or campaign dynamics.
Mr Trump was set to speak from Florida about cryptocurrency live on Monday night on the social media site X and had stops planned on Tuesday and Wednesday in Michigan and on New York’s Long Island.
An email to Trump campaign staff obtained by the AP said: “We ask that you remain vigilant in your daily comings and goings.”
“As we enter the last 50 days of President Trump’s campaign, we must remember that we will only be able save America from those who seek to destroy it by working together as one team.”
Mr Biden and Ms Harris were briefed on the matter and each issued a statement condemning political violence.
Ms Harris added that she was “deeply disturbed” by the day’s events and that “we all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence”.
I am deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of former President Trump today. As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more to violence.
Read my statement: pic.twitter.com/JcuKJPHYdA— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) September 16, 2024
Mr Biden said he had directed his team to ensure the Secret Service “has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former president’s continued safety”.
Later on Monday, Mr Biden said at the start of an address to the National HBCU Week Conference in Philadelphia: “America has suffered too many times the tragedy of an assassin’s bullet. It solves nothing. It just tears the country apart.
“We must do everything we can to prevent it and never give it any oxygen.”
In the aftermath, Mr Trump checked in with allies, including running mate JD Vance, South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham and several Fox News hosts.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said he spent several hours with Mr Trump and called him “unstoppable”.
Fox News host Sean Hannity recounted on air his conversation with the former president’s golf partner, Steve Witkoff.
They had been on the fifth hole and about to go up to putt when they heard a “pop pop, pop pop”.
Within seconds, he said Mr Witkoff recounted, Secret Service agents “pounced” on Mr Trump and “covered him” to protect him.
Mr Trump had returned to Florida this weekend from a West Coast swing that included a Friday night rally in Las Vegas and a Utah fundraiser.
He often spends the morning playing golf.
Mr Trump has had a stepped-up security footprint since the assassination attempt in July.
When he is at Trump Tower in New York, parked dump trucks have formed a wall outside the building.
At outdoor rallies, he now speaks from behind bulletproof glass.
The Florida golf course was partially shut down for Mr Trump as he played, but there are several areas around the perimeter of the property where golfers are visible from the fence line.
Secret Service agents and officers in golf carts and on ATVs generally secure the area several holes ahead and behind Mr Trump.
Agents also usually bring an armoured vehicle on to the course to shelter Mr Trump quickly should a threat arise.
The Palm Beach County sheriff said the entire golf course would have been lined with law enforcement if Mr Trump were the president, but because he is not “security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible”.
“I would imagine that the next time he comes to the golf course, there will probably be a little more people around the perimeter,” Mr Bradshaw said.
“But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done.”
Late on Sunday, Mr Trump posted a message on social media thanking the Secret Service and law enforcement for keeping him safe, calling them “brave and dedicated Patriots”, adding that it was “certainly an interesting day!”
He was to be briefed in person on Monday by acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe about the investigation into the assassination attempt, according to a person familiar with the plan for the briefing.
Mr Trump said on Monday in an interview with Fox News Digital that the accused gunman “believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it”.
The former president went on to say: “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”
The tone was different from the one Mr Trump adopted immediately after the Pennsylvania assassination attempt in July, when he called for unity and a cooling of the campaign’s tenor, including during his speech at the Republican National Convention.
“They use highly inflammatory language,” Mr Trump told Fox News Digital. “I can use it too — far better than they can — but I don’t.”
Former presidents and their spouses have Secret Service protection for life, but the security around former presidents varies according to threat levels and exposure, with the toughest measures typically being taken in the immediate aftermath of their leaving office.
