Donald Trump shooter Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including the attempted murder of the former president.
Routh appeared in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday after being charged with attempting to assassinate Trump. He has been ordered to remain in jail without bail while his case winds through the courts.
He faces five federal charges after police say he pointed a gun through a fence at Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach on September 15.
Last week, prosecutors revealed that he had written a chilling letter admitting his failure to take the former president’s life.
Routh also offered $150,000 to anyone who could “get the job done,” according to the note released Monday by the Justice Department and obtained by DailyMail.com.
“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you. I did my best and gave everything I could muster. It’s now up to you to get the job done; and I will offer $150,000 to whoever can complete the job,” the letter reads.
Donald Trump’s alleged killer, Ryan Wesley Routh, wrote a chilling letter admitting his failure to take the former president’s life
Department of Homeland Security police officers stand guard outside the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building as Routh made his plea
It was addressed to “the world” and said Trump had “ended relations with Iran like a child and now the Middle East has unraveled.”
Routh, 58, also had a list of Trump’s upcoming public appearances and had Googled a route from Palm Beach, Florida, to Mexico.
He is scheduled to appear in federal court on Monday for a detention hearing following the September 15 attempted murder at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Routh also offered $150,000 to anyone who could “finish the job,” according to the note released Monday by the Justice Department and obtained by DailyMail.com
Ahead of that appearance, federal prosecutors submitted a written factual offering with new details about the day Routh tried to kill Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course.
In addition to laying out the evidence against Routh, the Justice Department argued that he should remain locked up as the case progressed.
The document shows that a Secret Service agent was driving over the fence line between Trump’s course and the public street, one gap ahead of the former president, when he saw “the partially hidden face of a man in the brush along the fence.”
The man was later identified as Routh.
The officer then saw a gun barrel sticking out and shot the suspect.
The officer then “took cover behind a tree and reloaded his weapon and then looked up” to see that Routh was gone.
Routh was directly in line of sight of the green of the 6th hole. Trump was playing on hole 5 at the time of the incident. Secret Service agents chased him off the course when they heard the shots fired by their fellow agent on hole 6.
Law enforcement officers stand outside the Paul G Rogers Federal Building US Courthouse before the public for Ryan W. Routh
After the officer fired, a witness saw Routh running across Summit Boulevard toward a black Nissan Xterra, with a Florida license plate, that was parked nearby.
The witness took photos of the Nissan Xterra and wrote down the license plate except for the last digit. Using that information, local police were able to find the vehicle and arrest Rout.
Inside the vehicle, police found six cellphones, one of which contained “a Google search on how to get from Palm Beach County to Mexico.”
Also in the car were 12 pairs of gloves, a Hawaiian driver’s license in Routh’s name and a list of Trump’s public appearances in August, September and October.
In addition, there was a notebook with “dozens of pages filled with names and phone numbers relating to Ukraine, discussions about how to fight on behalf of Ukraine, and notes criticizing the governments of China and Russia.”
On September 18, police were contacted by a witness who said Routh had delivered a box to his home several months earlier. After seeing the news about what happened on the golf course, the witness opened the box.
Among the contents was a chilling letter addressed to “The World,” in which Routh announced his intention to assassinate the former president – and predicted he would fail. He then offered six figures to anyone who would complete the task.
“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you. I did my best and gave everything I could muster. It’s now up to you to get the job done; and I will offer $150,000 to whoever can do the job,” he says in the handwritten note.
“Everyone in the world, from the youngest to the oldest, knows that Trump is unfit to be anything, let alone an American president. At the very least, American presidents should embody the moral fabric of America and be kind, caring, selfless and always stand up for humanity.”
The box also contained ammunition, a metal pipe, various building materials, tools, four telephones and various letters.