More details are emerging in the case of Greensboro’s Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Sunday. Among the details, an extensive prior criminal history and evidence that Routh may have waited, hidden along the golf course, for nearly 12 hours ahead of Sunday’s shooting.
Routh is being held without bond until arraignment in two weeks. Reporters in the courtroom say he appeared to be smiling and laughing with a court-appointed attorney in court Monday morning, during a hearing that lasted less than ten minutes. While the FBI reported that they are investigating this incident as an attempted assassination, so far the two charges Routh faces are related to weapons possession.
He faces a federal criminal complaint filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm that has the serial number obliterated. Officials say that the investigation is ongoing, and more charges could be added as Department of Justice prosecutors seek a grand jury indictment.
In the criminal complaint, the FBI said that in 2002, Routh was convicted of “possession of a weapon of mass destruction,” a Class F felony in North Carolina, punishable by up to 59 months of incarceration. In 2003, he was convicted of driving without a license, carrying a concealed weapon, and hit and run. The complaint also said that in 2010, Routh was convicted on multiple counts of possession of stolen goods, a class “H” felony.
The FBI complaint details Sunday’s incident saying that at 1:31pm a member of Trump’s Secret Service detail was patrolling the perimeter of the hole ahead of Donald Trump’s position on Trump International golf course and saw a rifle barrel sticking through the bushes. The agent fired a service weapon in the direction of the rifle and a white male, later identified as Routh, fled in a black Nissan SUV at a high rate of speed. A quick-thinking passerby took a photo of the truck, helping officials to find it. Police later found that the license plates on the SUV were stolen.
In the tree line, police found what they described as a makeshift sniper’s nest, with two backpacks containing ceramic tiles, a bag of food, a digital video camera, and loaded SKS-Style rifle. The FBI complaint says it had to be brought through interstate or international commerce, indicating more charges to come.
Agents also found his phone at the scene, after tracking a What’s App number that Routh posted on Facebook in July. In tracking the phone, law enforcement officials say it shows the phone in the same spot, just outside the fence of Trump International for nearly 12 hours on September 15.
Routh lived in Greensboro for decades before moving to Hawaii. His former neighbor told the local Fox affiliate that she last saw him in May when he hired her son to help him move.
“I’ve seen the guns myself and all, and, yeah, they had a lot of guns and stuff over there, and, yeah, a lot of people were afraid of him back in the day,” the neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous told Fox8. In 2023, Routh also self-published a book on Amazon called “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War.” In the book, Routh urged readers to assassinate the former president.
“You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal. No one here in the US seems to have the balls to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection,” he wrote.
Former President Trump continued campaign stops Monday with just four weeks to go until early voting begins October 17 in North Carolina. He has a rally scheduled in Wilmington for this weekend.
It is long past time that President Trump’s security be increased to the highest level of presidential protection, given the attempts on his life.
— Senator Ted Budd (@SenTedBuddNC) September 16, 2024
It is imperative that we keep President Trump and those around him safe.
Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, will speak in Raleigh on Wednesday, just days after meeting with voters in Greenville for the ECU, App State football game. On Saturday, Vance and his wife were scheduled to visit tailgaters outside ECU’s Dowdy Ficklen Stadium, but with the large crowds, instead they went to the local Sup Dogs restaurant and bar. The Vances ordered Coors Light, spending time sitting at tables with supporters, taking pictures, and visiting.
Watch Now: Sen. JD Vance and wife, Usha, visit Sup Dogs in Greenville, NC
They also watched part of the game from ECU’s chancellor’s box, as evidenced by the extensive security detail lining the top level of the Greenville stadium.