Trump gunman Ryan Routh left note for failed assassination attempt

Ryan Routh planned for months to shoot Donald Trump, keeping detailed lists of his whereabouts and writing a note in case the assassination attempt failed.

Ryan Routh allegedly wrote a letter saying "this was an assassination attempt" before he was arrested fleeing a sniper's nest at Donald Trump's golf course. Pictures: Supplied/ AFP.

A man who allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump on a Florida golf course had been planning for months to shoot the former president, keeping detailed lists of Trump’s whereabouts and writing a note in case the assassination attempt failed, prosecutors said Monday.

“Dear World, This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you,” the handwritten note from Ryan Wesley Routh said. “I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It’s up to you to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”

Federal prosecutors included a photo of the scribbled note in a new court filing as they urged a judge to keep Routh detained while his court case proceeds. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe agreed and ordered Routh held on federal gun crimes, as prosecutors said they were also building attempted assassination charges against him.

A witness found the note inside of a box that Routh had dropped off months before the Sept. 15 golf-course encounter. The witness only opened the box, which also contained ammunition, tools and a metal pipe, after Routh had been arrested for trying to kill Trump, and contacted law enforcement three days later. Prosecutors didn’t identify the witness but said that person would be at risk for retaliation if Routh were released.

The note was one of several new revelations about Routh’s plans in the months and weeks before a Secret Service agent allegedly saw him pointing a semiautomatic rifle through a golf-course fence while Trump was playing nearby.

Prosecutors also disclosed that Routh had compiled a handwritten list of dates and places where he expected the Republican nominee to be present, and had travelled to Florida from Greensboro, N.C., more than a month before the encounter. Cellphone records showed he had on multiple days travelled near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence about 5 miles away between Aug. 18 and the incident on Sept. 15.

Routh, who has no ties to Florida, appeared to have been in West Palm Beach for one reason, “to kill the former president of the United States, ” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Dispoto said during the hearing.

Kristy Militello, an assistant federal public defender representing Routh, argued prosecutors had failed to show he was a danger to the community, noting he had dutifully and regularly showed up for court hearings in other prior criminal cases.

That criminal record, which included several felonies, should have prevented Routh from being able to buy a gun, and authorities are still investigating how he got the semiautomatic SKS-style rifle with a scope. Its serial number had been scratched off, making it difficult to quickly trace. Investigators had made progress, an FBI agent said Monday, having deciphered eight of the nine characters.

Routh didn’t get a shot off, but authorities found the gun loaded with 11 rounds in a magazine and one in the chamber. Dispoto said Routh had created his own “sniper’s nest” by hanging two backpacks with bullet-resistant plates on the fence where he was hiding and then positioning the rifle between them, suggesting he intended to fire and be shot at in return.

On Monday, prosecutors revealed they had also found two additional license plates and six cellphones, one of which contained a google search for how to travel from West Palm Beach to Mexico, an indication that he had hoped to flee. Investigators also found a notebook with dozens of pages filled with names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine and notes criticising the governments of China and Russia, prosecutors said. Routh had been a pro-Ukraine activist for years, travelling there shortly after the Russian invasion in 2022 in the hopes of joining the fight.

Officials said Routh hid undetected near the golf course for nearly 12 hours on Sept. 15, before the Secret Service agent spotted him and opened fire. He sped off in a black Nissan but was captured soon after as he fled north on Interstate 95.

The close call came as the American public is increasingly on edge amid growing threats of politically motivated violence ahead of November’s election. Evidence that the gunman went unnoticed near the premises for hours also raised fresh doubts about the Secret Service’s ability to protect both presidential candidates during such a volatile campaign season.

Dow Jones