Inset: Ryan Routh speaks about what he was doing in Ukraine (Newsweek Romania). Background: Law enforcement officers arrest Ryan Routh, the man suspected in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File).
A man accused of trying to kill Donald Trump at his Palm Beach golf course faces new attempted murder charges after his attempt to flee police resulted in a car crash that seriously injured a 6-year-old girl, prosecutors announced.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged with the state crimes on Tuesday, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a press release. Moody explained that the basis for the new charge is that Routh committed an enumerated felony — domestic terrorism — and that felony seriously injured and could have killed a 6-year-old girl. The charge carries a sentence of up to life in prison, officials said.
“My heart breaks for the child and her family, and while we continue to seek justice for President Trump, we will fight just as hard to ensure Mr. Routh pays for the tragedy his criminal actions brought on this Florida family,” Moody said.
Routh already faces federal charges of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. The charges could bring him a life sentence if convicted.
With the announcement of the state charges, Moody also took the opportunity to criticize the federal government’s investigation into the assassination attempt over which she filed a federal lawsuit on Oct. 23.
“Despite the federal government frustrating our efforts, which we continue to challenge in court, we found that Mr. Routh’s actions caused catastrophic injuries to a 6-year-old girl,” she said.
Routh is accused in the Sept. 15 assassination attempt of Trump at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach as the once and future president was golfing.
A U.S. Secret Service agent conducting a security sweep saw the partially obscured face of a man — later identified as Routh — in the brush along a fence line near the sixth hole. The agent observed the barrel of a rifle aimed directly at him. As the agent began backing away, he saw the rifle barrel move, and the agent fired at Routh, prosecutors said.
Routh ran across a road and fled in a black Nissan Xterra, prosecutors said.
At the location where the suspect had allegedly been spotted, investigators discovered a “sniper’s nest” in dense shrubbery bordering the golf course on the southeast corner of the golf club. In that nest was an SKS semi-automatic-style rifle leaning against a fence, officials said.
The Xterra, meanwhile, was spotted by deputies heading north on Interstate 95, which was shut down due to the high-risk traffic stop.
Once traffic stopped, Routh was ordered out of his vehicle with his hands up and arrested while authorities brought in a bomb detection K-9 to search his vehicle.
During the investigation on the interstate, a chain-reaction crash occurred several miles away. A driver, who later told a trooper she looked down for her water bottle, failed to account for the traffic backed up ahead and collided with a car in front, causing a chain reaction.
The 6-year-old girl in one car was severely hurt. Her mother told a 911 dispatcher that she couldn’t immediately tell whether her daughter was breathing, and they tried to brace her neck as they waited for paramedics.
“Eventually the sound of choking or gagging can be heard on the recording,” the affidavit said.
Paramedics arrived, cut her out of her seat belt, and took her to a hospital, where she was listed in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, the affidavit said.
“Routh’s actions were the cause of a horrific car crash that severely injured the minor child, Routh’s intentional act of escaping the scene of his attempted act of terrorism could have easily resulted in the death of [redacted], but fortunately did not,” the affidavit said.
The alleged assassination attempt in Palm Beach was the second in three months where Trump was targeted. He was grazed by a bullet from a shooter on a roof in July during a rally in Pennsylvania. The shooter in that incident was killed by law enforcement.
Routh is set to appear in court in the federal case on Feb. 10. The judge presiding over the case is U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump appointee who tossed out the former president’s Mar-a-Lago classified documents prosecution. Law&Crime reported that she declined to step aside from presiding over Routh’s case.
Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.
