Florida has hit Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Wesley Routh with charges of attempted first-degree murder and terrorism, according to an arrest warrant.
In a Thursday post on the social platform X, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said, “My office is officially charging Ryan Routh for attempting to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald J. Trump.”
Routh's September assassination attempt against the president at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., came only a few months after a July assassination attempt in Pennsylvania amid a heated campaign season.
“My office, as well as our law enforcement partners, were met with major roadblocks in prosecuting this case during Biden's term,” Uthmeier said in a video in the post. “Biden and his attorney general sought to frustrate our efforts and block our investigation into the man who crossed into this state and attempted to commit political violence against a Florida resident.”
“Thank God he was unsuccessful, and thank God we have Donald Trump as president again,” he added. “The leadership of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel was instrumental in preserving Florida’s sovereign authority to do what is right and bring justice where it is due.”
In December, former Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody alleged that federal officials investigating the alleged assassination attempt had given a “lack of cooperation and support” to state law officials. She alleged that federal officials prevented crime scene, evidence and witness interview access.
Routh is currently being held on federal charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number, notes the Associated Press.
The Hill has reached out to an attorney for Routh for comment.
