A federal grand jury charged Ryan Wesley Routh with the attempted assassination of a president after he was arrested after being spotted hiding in the bushes near Trump Internation Golf Course where former President Donald Trump was playing golf.
In a press release on Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Routh had been indicted for the attempted assassination of Trump on September 15.
The DOJ’s announcement comes after prosecutors announced on Monday that they intended to seek an assassination attempt charge against Routh, who has been accused of allegedly attempting to assassinate Trump.
“Violence targeting public officials endangers everything our country stands for, and the Department of Justice will use every available tool to hold Ryan Routh accountable for the attempted assassination of former President Trump charged in the indictment,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
A day after Routh was apprehended, he was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and with possession of a firearm that had an obliterated serial number.
The indictment of Routh comes a day after the DOJ released the contents of a letter it had reportedly obtained through a witness, who claimed to have gotten the letter months ago in a box. In the letter allegedly written by Routh, he apologizes for failing to assassinate the former president and offers $150,000 to anyone who is able to successfully do the job.
A federal judge ruled that Routh was denied bail and would have to remain detained until “the resolution of the charges.”
Garland added that the DOJ would “not tolerate violence that strikes at the heart of our democracy,” and vowed to “find and hold accountable those who perpetrate it.”
The second assassination attempt on Trump comes after Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, from the rooftop of a nearby building where he had a direct line of sight of Trump.
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