The alleged shooter in the second attempted assassination of Donald Trump never fired a shot and was unable to directly target the former president before fleeing the scene.
New shocking information about Ryan Wesley Routh, the 58-year-old man now charged with attempted murder, was released by law enforcement officials in Palm Beach, Florida, one day after the attempted murder.
Routh turned out to be known to law enforcement and had been on the FBI’s radar since 2019. A tip came in that the convicted felon was in possession of a firearm, officials revealed at a news conference Monday, but the tipster never confirmed the information.
The FBI, Secret Service and other federal and local officials also provided an update on conspiracy theories swirling about Trump’s alleged killer, saying Routh appeared to be a lone actor.
The would-be assassin left behind a loaded Soviet-style AK-47 rifle, known as an SKS, two bags, a digital video camera and a piece of ceramic-coated bulletproof armor in the brush of Trump’s golf club on Sunday.
Acting US Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said the suspected gunman never had a line of sight on Donald Trump and confirmed he did not fire his gun before being attacked by agents from the former president’s protective detail.
During a press conference, officials revealed that the FBI received a tip in 2019 that Ryan Wesley Routh, a felon, was in possession of a firearm
“We have no information that there was any trade activity in the area with anyone else,” Jeffrey Veltri, Special Agent in Charge of the Miami FBI Field Office, told reporters when asked if the shooter acted alone.
More details were shared during the afternoon tick-tock news conference, which saw Routh flee the Trump International Golf Club after an agent shot him after spotting the barrel of his AK-47 pointing out of the brush surrounding the course where the former president was playing on Sunday.
The update contained limited information discovered in the 24 hours following the incident.
“The suspect, who had no line of sight to the former president, fled,” Ronald Rowe, acting director of the U.S. Secret Service, said Monday. “He did not fire or fire at our agent with reports of gunfire.”
Routh was arrested 50 miles away from the club after a witness saw him fleeing in a stolen black Nissan SUV. He was able to provide police with the license plate number and later identified the suspect.
The FBI has interviewed seven witnesses so far and they have also been identified.
Investigators are calling the incident a second assassination attempt on the former president in just two months.
Officials released a photo Sunday of items Routh left behind at the crime scene
After Trump was shot in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, the USSS conducted a major overhaul of its approach to security for the 2024 presidential candidate.
Rowe took over the role of actor when former director Kimberly Cheatle stepped down following the attack on Butler.
On Monday, he said: “We need to move away from a reactive model and towards a preparedness model.”
“There could be another geopolitical event that could throw the United States into a kinetic conflict, or another, another issue that could result in additional responsibilities and protections for the U.S. intelligence community,” the acting director said.
“We have no alternative,” Rowe continued. “Success — we have to have it every day. We can’t have failure. And to get there, we’re going to have some tough conversations with Congress, and we’re going to get there.”
Routh appeared in court Monday and was charged with two counts: possession of a firearm while a convicted felon; and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number.
Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI Field Office in Miami, told reporters there is no evidence Routh worked with anyone else — and that the bureau received a tip in 2019 that he was a convicted felon in possession of a gun
A sketch of a courtroom shows a slim Routh in a dark prison uniform
The suspect wore a black prison uniform and had his hands and feet shackled during the eight-minute hearing at the Paul G Rogers Federal Courthouse on Monday morning.
It is unclear where Routh got his gun, as it is not a firearm sold in Florida and the serial number has been destroyed.
Part of Routh’s rap sheet in North Carolina includes “gun violations” and “terrorist threats” dating back to 2002, according to public records. And a three-hour standoff with police in North Carolina.
When Routh was 36 years old in 2002, he was convicted of possession of a weapon of mass destruction.
He was arrested after a standoff with police, during which he barricaded himself inside a local roofing company in Greensboro after driving away at a high rate of speed with a firearm during a traffic stop.
In 2019, the FBI received a tip that the convicted felon was in possession of a firearm, which is also a felony.
“I can also tell you that he was the subject of a previously closed tip in 2019 to the FBI alleging that he was a felon in possession of a firearm,” Special Agent Veltri said at Monday’s news conference.
“In order to follow up on the tip, the alleged complainant was interviewed, was interviewed and did not verify, I repeat, did not verify, and provided the initial information,” he continued. “The FBI passed that information on to local law enforcement in Honolulu.”
The 58-year-old construction worker is from North Carolina, but has moved to Hawaii in recent years.
According to the FBI, FBI offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Honolulu, Hawaii, are in the process of locating and interviewing Routh’s friends, family members and former colleagues.
Rowe said of the USSS operations surrounding Trump since the first assassination attempt: “As I leave Butler, I have ordered a paradigm shift.”