Man suspected of trying to kill Donald Trump in Florida charged with attempted assassination

Routh, who is being held in pretrial detention, was arrested on September 15 after being spotted by Secret Service agents hiding in a bush with a semi-automatic rifle.

The man suspected of trying to shoot Donald Trump in Florida was charged Tuesday, September 24, with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, the second time the Republican has suffered in two months. He had previously been charged only with illegal possession of a weapon by a person with a criminal record and possession of a weapon with an obliterated serial number. To these charges were added those of possession of a firearm with a view to committing a violent crime, and assault of a federal agent, specified the American Department of Justice.

Ryan Routh, 58, was arrested on September 15 while fleeing after Secret Service agents spotted him in a bush with a semi-automatic rifle near the golf course where the former president was playing. A federal judge on Monday ordered him to be remanded in custody. The new indictment was issued Tuesday in Miami by a grand jury, a citizen panel with investigative powers.

In addition, Donald Trump claims to be the subject of threats “concrete” of murder by Iran. “Iran poses a grave threat to my life. The entire U.S. military is watching and waiting,” wrote the Republican candidate on his social network, Truth Social, on Tuesday. “Iran has taken steps before that didn’t work, but they’re going to try again. (…) I’m surrounded by more men, guns and weapons than I’ve ever seen before,” he added.

His campaign team was informed by the intelligence services “real and concrete threats from Iran to assassinate him,” said his spokesman, Steven Cheung. According to the campaign official, citing American intelligence, these “continuous and coordinated attacks” have intensified “in the last few months.”

In July, shortly after the first attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, US media outlets claimed that authorities had intelligence about a plot by Iran. Tehran rejected the accusations, saying they were “unfounded”, “malicious” and having “biased political objectives”.