The FBI revealed Monday that it received a tip five years ago about Ryan Routh, the suspect who is now at the center of an apparent second attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri said during a press conference that a tipster alleged to the FBI in 2019 that Routh was a felon who was in unlawful possession of a firearm. The FBI closed the matter after transferring it to local law enforcement in Hawaii, Veltri said.
“Following up on the tip, the alleged complainant was interviewed and did not verify, I repeat, did not verify providing the initial information,” Veltri said. “The FBI passed that information to local law enforcement in Honolulu.”
Routh, 58, was a longtime resident of North Carolina before moving to Hawaii.
The revelation that Routh had at one point been on the FBI’s radar came after authorities said they discovered Routh armed with a semiautomatic rifle at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
Secret Service acting Director Ronald Rowe, who also spoke at the press conference, said an agent was sweeping the golf course “several hundred yards and several holes” ahead of Trump while the former president was playing when the agent noticed Routh pointing his gun through the trees.
The agent immediately began firing shots at Routh, who darted away and was detained by authorities less than an hour later. Rowe said Routh never had a line of sight to Trump, and the acting director praised his team for its management of the situation.
“The agent’s hypervigilance and the [security] detail’s strict action was textbook, and I commend them and our partners for an exemplary response in keeping former President Trump safe,” Rowe said.
Routh was charged Monday in federal court with two gun charges, possessing a firearm despite being a convicted felon and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He will remain behind bars while he awaits his detention hearing on Sept. 23 and arraignment on Sept. 30.
The FBI has taken over the inquiry into Routh and has maintained that it is investigating the incident as an apparent attempted assassination of Trump.
Veltri provided a few updates on the status of the FBI’s inquiry Monday, but he cautioned that he could give only limited details because the bureau’s policy is not to discuss open court matters. The incident also happened just over 24 hours ago, and the investigation is still in its early phase, Veltri said.
The FBI official said, currently, agents are working on executing warrants to access Routh’s electronic devices and have conducted seven interviews of civilian witnesses, with many more interviews to go, Veltri said.
Veltri mentioned the FBI tip that the bureau had once received about Routh as he was discussing Routh’s extensive criminal background. Routh was charged and convicted in 2002 in North Carolina with possessing a “weapon of mass destruction” and has, in the last 25 years, faced numerous felony charges for stolen goods.
While the FBI has not made any remarks about his motive for apparently targeting Trump, Routh had a large online presence that provided indicators of his political standing. Routh signaled that he became deeply disgruntled with Trump after initially supporting him in 2016, and he showed an intense focus on supporting Ukraine beginning in 2022 when Russia invaded the country.
“We’re going through media reports and public statements [Routh] made that he wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers and others to fight for Ukraine,” Veltri said.
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Routh self-published a digital book in 2023 called Ukraine’s Unwinnable War, in which he rambled about his views, repeatedly criticized Trump, and expressed a desire for Trump to be assassinated.
“I must take part of the blame for the retarded child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brain-less, but I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake, and Iran, I apologize,” Routh wrote. “You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgement and the dismantling of the [Iran nuclear] deal.”
