The suspect in an apparent assassination attempt targeting Donald Trump camped outside a golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours before he was spotted by the Secret Service, according to court documents.
Ryan Wesley Routh faces charges of possessing a firearm despite being a convicted felon and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Further charges appear likely, but the initial counts will allow authorities to keep him in custody as the investigation continues.
Shackled and wearing a blue jumpsuit, Mr Routh appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach on Monday morning, local time, where he answered basic questions about his work status and income.
Mr Routh was arrested on Sunday afternoon after a Secret Service agent spotted a firearm poking out of shrubbery on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing.
Prosecutors asked that he remain locked up as a flight risk. A further hearing was set for September 23.
An FBI affidavit shows how law enforcement officials, during their investigation, used Routh's cell phone information to place him at the golf course from 1:59am Sunday until about 1:31pm.
A digital camera, a loaded rifle with scope and a plastic bag containing food was recovered from the area where Mr Routh had positioned himself, according to the affidavit.
The Department of Justice said Mr Routh, of Hawaii, was convicted of multiple felony offences in North Carolina in 2002 and 2010. The Associated Press, citing court documents, reported they included two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002.
Speaking in a soft voice in court on Monday, Mr Routh said that he was working and making around $3,000 a month, but has zero savings.
Mr Routh said that he had no real estate or assets, aside from two trucks worth about $1,000, both located in Hawaii. He also said that he had a 25-year-old son, whom he sometimes supports.
Mr Routh's lawyer, a public defender, did not make any comment.
FBI special agent Jeffrey Veltri later said Mr Routh had "an active online presence, and we are going through what he posted and any searches he conducted online".
"In addition, we're going through media reports and public statements he made that he wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers and others to fight for Ukraine."
It was the second apparent assassination attempt targeting Trump in two months.
On July 13, a bullet grazed Trump's ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a man in the crowd was killed. Secret Service director Kimberley Cheatle later resigned from her position.
The Secret Service's acting director, Ronald Rowe, told a press conference on Monday he had ordered a "paradigm shift" in its "protective methodologies" since the assassination attempt in Butler.
He said it had increased security for Trump following a request from President Joe Biden "for the highest levels of protection" for the former president, as well as for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Mr Routh did not have a line of sight to the former president as he waited by the golf course, and did not fire any shots at the Secret Service agent who spotted him, Mr Rowe said.
"The protective methodologies of the Secret Service were effective," he said.
Trump says Secret Service did 'an excellent job'
Trump defended the Secret Service's handling of the incident during a live interview with Rug Radio CEO Farokh Samard on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"It was quite something, but it worked out well. And the Secret Service did an excellent job and they have the man behind bars and hopefully he's going to be there for a long time. Dangerous person. Very, very dangerous person," he said.
The presidential candidate said he was playing golf with friends when he suddenly heard several shots ring out.
"The Secret Service knew immediately they were bullets, and they grabbed me … we got into the guard's [car] and we moved along pretty, pretty good. I was with an agent and the agent did a fantastic job. There was no question that we were off that course.
"I would have loved to have sank that last putt, but we decided, 'let's get out of here'. A Secret Service agent had seen a barrel of an AK-47, which is a very powerful gun rifle, and he started shooting at the barrel and started shooting in the bushes."
President Biden said he was still waiting for a full report on the shooting.
"But one thing I want to make clear is the Secret Service needs more help," he said.
"And I think the Congress should respond to their needs if they, in fact, need more for the service."
[live moment]AP/Reuters/ABC
