Live Updates: Trump assassination attempt suspect was subject of 2019 FBI gun tip

Local and federal authorities released a deluge of new information Monday about a second, apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump that took palce Sunday afternoon at his West Palm Beach golf course. The suspect, Ryan Routh, 58, was arrested in Martin County after fleeing the scene. Trump was unharmed.

The Miami Herald is working to bring you the latest developments on the case throughout the day.

FBI tip on Routh in 2019

The FBI received a tip in 2019 that alleged Routh was a felon in possession of a firearm, Special Agent Jeffrey Veltri said in a news conference Monday afternoon.

“In 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 closed the case and referred the case to local law enforcement officers in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Past arrests

Public records show dozens of arrests for Routh in North Carolina over the past two decades, on charges ranging from driving without a license and writing bad checks to weapons possession. He was also a plaintiff or a defendant in more than 200 civil lawsuits, most of them involving his roofing company, Julie K. Brown and Ana Ceballos report.

In 2002, Routh barricaded himself inside his business, after he fled a traffic stop in Greensboro. Fulk, who pulled him over that day, recalls that she saw Routh driving and knew that he did not have a valid license. Upon approaching his pickup truck, she saw him motion toward a duffel bag in his center console with a gun inside. She ordered him to step out of his pickup truck, and he instead fled and locked himself inside his roofing company.

‘Very Proud’: Trump thanks law enforcement

Shifting political view points

Routh’s social media accounts have been suspended by both Facebook and X, reports Ana Ceballos from Tallahassee. But social media posts, confirmed and reported by several media outlets, show a man whose political viewpoints shifted over the years, ranging from support of politicians such as Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard and Trump.

Routh, however, described his support of Trump as a “terrible mistake” in a self-published book in 2023. The book is titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War.” In that book, he described the former president as an “idiot” and “brainless,” and at one point urged Iran to assassinate him for leaving the Iran nuclear deal.

“You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal,” Routh wrote in the self-published book.

Blaming Biden-Harris

Proposing legislation

‘Gun show loophole’

An FBI special agent argues in the criminal complaint against Routh that there is “probable cause” that the SKS-style rifle was purchased outside of Florida, in part, because those weapons are not manufactured in the state, report Ana Ceballos and Alexandra Glorioso from Tallahasee.

It is not yet known where or how Routh acquired the weapon. SKS-style weapons are a mainstay at shops and gun shows in the U.S., according to a Washington Post report .

Routh was charged on Monday with illegally possessing a gun with a scratched-out serial number and with possessing a gun illegally as a felon — though more serious charges could follow.

While it’s illegal for a convicted felon to own a firearm, unlicensed dealers aren’t required to perform background checks, said Lindsay Nichols, the policy director at Giffords Law Center, a gun safety group founded by former U.S. Senator Gabby Giffords, a Democrat from Airzon who was a victim of gun violence.

Advocates for gun-safety reform have long referred to the practice as the “gun show loophole.”

While the Biden administration has tried to expand requirements that gun sellers obtain a license and perform background checks through a new rule, state officials have fought the effort . They argue the new rules have led to a decline in gun show attendance and as a result, a loss in revenue taxes in the state.

Between 2017 and 2021, federal officials found that unlicensed dealers were the sources of 68,000 illegally trafficked firearms, according to the White House.

New details from criminal complaint

Mobile records obtained from Routh by the FBI show he was in the vicinity of the attempted assassination for about 12 hours Sunday, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Monday morning. From the tree-line area in which he was allegedly waiting to ambush Trump, agents recovered a loaded SKS-style rifle, which is semiautomatic. The gun had an “obliterated” serial number and was not manufactured in Florida.

DeSantis: State probe needed for ‘credibility’

“I understand that the feds are involved but we do believe that there were multiple violations of state law,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at an Orlando press conference Monday. “We also believe that there’s a need to make sure that the truth about all this comes out in a way, you know, that’s credible.”

Ana Ceballos and Alexandra Glorioso report from Tallahassee.

Conspiracy or lone gunman? Update from Martin County

At a news conference on Monday, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said deputies were able to stop Routh along the highway, Ana Ceballos reports from Tallahassee.

“I think he thought he might have gotten away with it,” Snyder said. “He was driving himself to where he came from.”

Without offering evidence, Snyder said his big question is whether Routh is part of a conspiracy or a lone gunman.

“How does a guy, from not here, get all the way to Trump International, realize that the former president of the United States is golfing and get a rifle in that vicinity,” said Snyder, a Republican. “Is this guy part of a conspiracy? Or is this a lone gunman?”

Snyder told reporters: “If he is part of a conspiracy, then this really takes on a really ominous tone.”

Suspect appears in court

Routh arrived at the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach Monday morning wearing a navy blue jumpsuit and handcuffs around his wrists and ankles, the Herald’s Jay H. Weaver reports from the scene. The hearing will focus on Routh’s legal representation. The suspect will likely be charged, for now, by a FBI criminal complaint and affidavit that will spell out his alleged attempt to try to assassinate Trump.

Read more here .

Who is Ryan Routh?

The man accused of hiding in the bushes with an AK-47 and trying to assassinate Trump at his South Florida golf club is a former roofer whose criminal history includes barricading himself with a weapon at the company’s facility in North Carolina more than two decades ago, report the Herald’s Grethel Aguila and David Neal .

Read more here .

Can Secret Service protect Trump? Pressure increases

The United States Secret Service was already confronting a period of turmoil after a 20-year-old Pennsylvanian made an attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life this summer, reports McClatchy’s Michael Wilner , from Washington. But a second attempt, at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach on Sunday, deepened questions and concerns over whether the agency is up to the task of defending the country’s leaders, now facing an unprecedented number of threats.

“The Secret Service needs more help,” President Joe Biden told reporters Monday morning outside the White House.

FBI: Routh waited with assault rifle and scope in bushes for Trump

The suspect was spotted about 400 yards away from the former president, who was playing a round of golf, by Secret Service agents because the barrel of his AK-47 rifle was protruding from a fence. A GoPro camera was also recovered from the bushes after the suspect fled to a neighboring county before he was apprehended.

Read more here .