The suspect in the second apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump in as many months was charged in federal court on Monday morning with two gun-related crimes, as urgent investigations began into how he was able to get so close to the former US president.
As the US continued to react in shock to the latest apparent attempt on Trump’s life, the Republican presidential nominee added to the already tense atmosphere around the US election campaign by making highly inflammatory remarks, explicitly blaming Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for inciting the attack and calling them “the enemy within”.
Ryan Wesley Routh wore dark-blue prison scrubs in the courthouse and shackles on his hands and feet. He sat quietly for about five minutes with no visible signs of nerves before marshals led him back out to await his hearing. He was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and with having a gun with an obliterated serial number – probably just preliminary charges to allow authorities to keep him in custody while additional charges are brought.
Cellphone records showed Routh camped out near the golf course for about 12 hours, with food, before being confronted by a Secret Service agent. The Associated Press reported that in court documents unsealed on Monday, officials said Routh’s phone was shown near the tree line at Trump’s golf course from 1.59am until 1.31pm on Sunday, around which point a Secret Service agent shot at him after seeing his rifle through the foliage.
Later, Ronald Rowe Jr, the US Secret Service acting director, said Routh did not fire any shots. Rowe said that once an agent detected Routh armed with a rifle, the agent discharged their firearm before the 58-year-old fled.
“He did not fire or get off any shots at our agent,” Rowe said. “With reports of gunfire, the former president’s close protection detail immediately evacuated the president to a safe location.”
Rowe also told reporters that Trump was “out of sight of the gunman” during his unscheduled visit to the golf club.
“The protective methodologies of the Secret Service were effective yesterday,” Rowe added.
Routh then fled in an SUV before being arrested by local law enforcement officers in a neighboring county.
Trump, meanwhile, announced that he blamed the president and vice-president for the shooting, because they have criticized him as a threat to democracy following his attempt to overturn the 2020 election result.
“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country and they are the ones that are destroying the country – both from the inside and out,” Trump told Fox News Digital.
“These are people that want to destroy our country,” he added. “It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat.”
Donald Trump’s team said the former president would hit the trail this week as previously scheduled.
JD Vance, Trump’s vice-presidential pick, echoed his sentiments in a tweet, urging his followers to “reject censorship” amid what he considers a lack of coverage from media and discouragement from expressing “an opinion on the public affairs of your nation”.
“The logic of censorship leads directly to one place, for there is only one way to permanently silence a human being: put a bullet in his brain,” reads his 1,200-word post.
As more details about the alleged would-be assassin continued to surface, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, said the state was launching an investigation. “The people deserve the truth about the would-be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee,” DeSantis said on social media. The investigation will be led jointly by the Florida department of law enforcement and the Florida highway patrol, the governor’s office said.
Two members of a congressional taskforce investigating the earlier assassination attempt in July, the Republican Mike Kelly and the Democrat Jason Crow, also said they had requested a briefing from the Secret Service.
Joe Biden told reporters on Monday that he did not yet have a full report of the Sunday incident at Trump’s Florida golf course, and was thankful Trump was “OK”.
“The Secret Service needs more help,” the president added.
He said: “There is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former president’s continued safety.”
The House speaker, Mike Johnson, posted on social media that he and his wife, Kelly, had spent a few hours with Trump on Sunday after the incident. They were “thanking God for protecting him today – once again,” he said. “No leader in American history has endured more attacks and remained so strong and resilient.”
Vance, Trump’s running mate, said he was “glad” Trump was safe and said Trump “was, amazingly, in good spirits”. Senator Lindsey Graham described him as “one of the strongest people I’ve ever known”.
Trump thanked his security detail and local law enforcement for intervening before the gunman was able to take a shot. “The job done was absolutely outstanding,” Trump wrote in a post on social media.
Earlier, Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, responded, saying: “Again folks!”
The suspect was reported to be a registered Democrat in North Carolina, but also said on social media that he voted for Trump in 2016 and that he supported a hypothetical Republican presidential ticket of Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy.
The Florida Republican Anna Paulina Luna blamed the “radical left” for describing Republicans as “threats to democracy” following Trump’s attempt to overthrow the democratic will of the American people in 2020, which Biden frequently invoked when he was the Democratic candidate.
For the most part, however, politicians from both major parties denounced political violence.
Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential pick, Tim Walz, said: “Violence has no place in our country. It’s not who we are as a nation.”
The New York attorney general, Letitia James, who prosecuted the Trump organization in New York over false property valuations, said: “Political violence, in any form, cannot be accepted or normalized in this country.”
The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said: “There is no place in this country for political violence of any kind,” a sentiment also expressed by the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries.
Members of Trump’s inner circle said he was maintaining an upbeat perspective.
“He told me he was always glad to hear from me but he was glad he didn’t need my services today,” said Ronny Jackson, a Texas congressman and Trump’s former White House doctor, who said he spoke to Trump two hours after the incident.
