Florida will launch criminal probe into apparent assassination attempt of Trump, governor says

Florida law enforcement will launch a criminal investigation of the apparent assassination attempt of former U.S. President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.

The state-level probe will run parallel to the federal investigation into Ryan Wesley Routh, who was charged Monday with federal firearms offences. DeSantis said Florida prosecutors will pursue the most serious charges available under state law, including attempted murder.

“We have a very strong interest in holding this suspect accountable,” DeSantis told reporters.

The federal investigation into the incident at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course is in the early stages. Additional and more serious federal charges are possible as Justice Department prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury.

The FBI has interviewed the suspect’s family members, friends and colleagues and is working to collect evidence. No motive has been disclosed, and Routh invoked his right to an attorney when questioned, authorities said.

Routh’s attorney declined to comment after Routh appeared briefly in federal court Monday, when a judge ordered that he remain locked up after prosecutors argued that he was a flight risk. A federal magistrate set additional hearings for later this month.

Routh, 58, was arrested Sunday after authorities spotted a gun poking out of shrubbery on the golf course where Trump was playing. Routh camped outside the golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours, lying in wait for the former U.S. president before a Secret Service agent thwarted the potential attack and opened fire.

Routh did not fire any shots, never had Trump in his line of sight and sped away after the agent who spotted him fired in his direction, officials said. He was arrested in a neighbouring county.

Coming just weeks after a July 13 shooting at a Pennsylvania campaign rally where Trump was grazed by a gunman’s bullet, the latest assassination attempt accelerated concerns that violence continues to infect American presidential politics.

Federal investigators are examining Routh’s large online footprint, which suggests a man of evolving political viewpoints, including recently an apparent disdain for Trump, as well as intense outrage at global events concerning China and especially Ukraine.

“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran in an apparently self-published 2023 book titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,” which described the former U.S. president as a “fool” and “buffoon” for both the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the “tremendous blunder” of leaving the Iran nuclear deal.