WASHINGTON (AP) — The man accused in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a golf course in Florida on September 15, left a note saying he wanted to kill the former president and had a handwritten list of dates and locations where the Republican candidate was scheduled to appear in his car.
This information was provided by the Department of State this Monday.
The statements are included in a memorandum filed prior to a hearing in which the Department of Justice is expected to argue that Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, should remain detained as the case progresses.
The details seek to substantiate the prosecution's claims that Routh is a threat to public safety with a premeditated plan to kill Trump, a plot that authorities say was thwarted when a Secret Service agent discovered the barrel of a rifle emerging from some bushes on the outskirts of the golf course where Trump was playing in West Palm Beach.
After hearing the arguments accusing Routh of wanting to assassinate Donald Trump, the judge decided on Monday afternoon to keep the accused in prison.
Where were the messages discovered?
The note had been placed in a box left months ago in the home of an unidentified person who did not open it until after the arrest last Sunday.
In the box there were also ammunition, a metal tube, construction materials, tools, phones, and several letters. The person who received the box and contacted law enforcement agencies is not identified in the Department of Justice memo.
A note, titled "Dear World", seems to have been written with the assumption that the assassination attempt would fail. "This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed. I did the best I could and dedicated all the strength I could. It is now up to you to finish the mission and I offer $150,000 to anyone who can accomplish the mission," reads the note, according to prosecutors.
The cell phone records cited by the Department of Justice indicate that Routh traveled from Greensboro to West Palm Beach in mid-August, and that he was near Trump's golf course and his Mar-a-Lago mansion "on various dates, at various times" between August 18 and the day of the apparent assassination attempt.
Routh was arrested on Sunday afternoon after a Secret Service agent, who was scrutinizing the Trump International Golf Club for potential threats, saw a partially hidden human face, and the barrel of an automatic rifle pointed directly at him. The agent fired at Routh, who fled before being apprehended by agents in an adjacent county.