US prosecutors have officially charged 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh with the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate following his arrest near Donald Trump’s Florida golf course on September 15. This new, more serious charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized that violence against public officials endangers the nation’s core values and vowed to hold Routh accountable using all available legal tools.
The indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, follows the discovery of a pre-written letter in which Routh admitted his intent to kill the former president, even offering a cash reward to others to “complete the job” if he failed. Beyond the assassination charge, Routh faces several other counts, including:
- Assaulting a federal officer, specifically a Secret Service agent.
- Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
- Possession of a firearm as a felon and with an obliterated serial number.
The case has been randomly assigned to US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who previously presided over Trump’s classified documents case. While Trump has publicly called for Florida state authorities to take over the prosecution, Attorney General Garland stated that federal agencies will lead the case while cooperating with state officials as permitted by law. Routh remains in custody as a flight risk and is scheduled to enter a plea at his arraignment on September 30.
In a separate development, Routh’s son, Oran Routh, was arrested this week on federal child pornography charges. Authorities discovered hundreds of illicit files during a search of his North Carolina home conducted as part of the broader investigation into his father’s actions. This incident marks the second assassination attempt against Trump in 2024, following the shooting at a Pennsylvania rally in July.