A judge decided Monday that Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, will stay in prison while he awaits his trial after he was charged with two gun felonies in connection to a foiled assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe ruled during a hearing in Florida that the defendant will remain behind bars without the option to pay bail, according to Routh’s court docket. Routh was represented by two public defense attorneys for the hearing.
Authorities say that on Sept. 15, Routh staked out in the brush behind the sixth hole of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach with a loaded semiautomatic rifle with the apparent intent to murder Trump.
Routh faces two firearm possession charges related to the incident and could spend up to 20 years in prison if convicted. It is possible the Justice Department could bring more charges against him as federal investigators continue to gather evidence.
Prosecutors for the U.S. attorney’s office in southern Florida had urged the judge to keep Routh in prison ahead of the hearing. They provided new evidence to the court Monday morning about the defendant’s plans to target Trump to support their position that Routh was a danger.
Prosecutors presented an ominous note allegedly written by Routh several months ago in which the defendant apologized in advance for failing to kill Trump.
“Dear World, This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you,” Routh wrote.
Routh offered a $150,000 bounty to anyone who could “complete the job,” according to the note.
It is unclear how Routh would access funds to make such a payment after he told a judge last week when he was first detained that he could not afford his own lawyer, did not have any money in the bank, owned no property, and used some of his $3,000-per-month income to support a son.
Prosecutors also provided more detail about the Secret Service’s initial encounter with Routh.
They said an agent performing a security sweep on the golf course one hole ahead of Trump “observed a long black object protruding through the fence and realized the object was the barrel of a rifle aimed directly at him,” prosecutors wrote. The agent, they said, began firing at Routh, causing him to dart off. He was arrested on the highway less than one hour later.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Prosecutors also said Routh tracked Trump’s appearances, detailing in a notepad where the former president would be from August to October.
Routh also allegedly surveiled sites of Trump’s locations. Routh traveled from North Carolina to West Palm Beach, Florida, in mid-August, and cell phone data showed the defendant near both the golf club and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence “on multiple days and times” from Aug. 18 to Sept. 15, prosecutors said.
