Alleged Trump gunman wrote of ‘assassination attempt’, prosecutors say

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida: The US will seek to charge the man accused of hiding out with a gun near former President Donald Trump’s Florida golf course with attempting to assassinate a major political candidate, a federal prosecutor said on Monday.
The suspect, Ryan Routh, 58, was ordered to remain in jail without bond to await trial on two gun-related charges.
Prosecutor Mark Dispoto said the government will ask a grand jury to bring more serious charges against Routh, as prosecutors detailed the evidence collected against him, including a letter he allegedly wrote months before the incident referencing an “assassination attempt” on the Republican presidential candidate.
Routh allegedly pointed a rifle through the tree line on Sep 15 while the former president was playing golf at his course in West Palm Beach, according to a criminal complaint. He has not yet entered a plea.
It came about two months after another gunman wounded Trump on the ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. That gunman was shot and killed by the Secret Service.
The pair of incidents revealed the agency’s strains at a time of rising political threats and violence in the United States.
Authorities have not yet divulged a motive for the incident, which the FBI has said is being investigated as an apparent attempted assassination of Trump ahead of the Nov 5 presidential election.