Suspected Trump gunman’s online presence becomes FBI focus

Law enforcement officials laid out a fuller picture of the apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump and said they were poring through the suspect’s substantial online presence.

Ryan Routh, 58, was charged on Monday with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Florida.

At a press conference Monday afternoon, Jeffrey Veltri, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Miami field office, said several requests had been sent to companies regarding Routh’s phone and social media accounts.

Veltri noted that Routh was active on the internet. Many of his social media posts relate to his purported efforts to recruit fighters for Ukraine, and Veltri said those were part of the FBI investigation as well. The bureau is also interviewing Routh’s friends and family in Hawaii and North Carolina.

At the moment, Veltri said, there was no reason to think that the suspect was working with anyone else. “At this point, we’re still exploring that, investigating that,” he said.

The complaint included some tantalizing details about Routh’s alleged actions. Mobile phone records obtained by law enforcement suggested Routh may have been in the area of the golf course for around 12 hours before he was spotted. The license plate on the Nissan SUV in which Routh was apprehended was also allegedly registered to a 2012 Ford truck that had been reported stolen.

The criminal complaint allows authorities to hold Routh in custody pending a formal indictment that is expected to be presented on Sept. 30. Additional charges could be added at that time.

The incident occurred Sunday while Trump, the Republican nominee for president, was golfing at his Trump International Golf Club. More charges could still be filed against Routh, who was apprehended by officers from Martin County and later charged in West Palm Beach.

According to the criminal complaint, a Secret Service agent walking the perimeter of the club at around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday saw what appeared to be a rifle poking out of a tree line. The agent fired in the direction of the rifle. A witness then saw Routh fleeing the area and entering a Nissan SUV.

The SUV was located around 45 minutes later, and Routh was apprehended after being chased by police.

At Monday’s press conference, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said the gunman did not have a line of sight on Trump, who was immediately evacuated. Rowe said he didn’t know how the suspect could have known Trump would be playing golf that day, as it was not a publicly scheduled event.

Rowe said that he’d briefed Trump, adding that the former president is “aware that he has highest levels of protection that the Secret Service is providing.”

But the Secret Service head said the second assassination attempt had prompted some soul-searching. “We need to look at what our protective methodology is,” Rowe said. “We need to get out of a reactive model and get to a readiness model.”

Investigators have determined that Routh was previously convicted in December 2002 with possession of a weapon of mass destruction and in March 2010 with multiple counts of possession of stolen goods, according to the complaint. Both convictions were in North Carolina.

The federal charge of possessing a firearm by a convicted felon carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years in prison. The obliterated serial number charge is punishable by up to five years in prison.

The case is US v. Routh, 24-mj-08441, US District Court, Southern District of Florida.