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The FBI revealed Monday that the man arrested in connection with the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Florida earlier this month had a list of dates and venues found in his vehicle where the former president had appeared or was expected to appear, as well as a cellphone showing searches of how to get from West Palm Beach to Mexico.
Court documents also revealed that Routh dropped off a box at a person’s home that included a letter that declared, “This was an assassination attempt.” Law enforcement was contacted by a civilian on Sept. 18 who said that Routh had dropped off the box at his residence several months earlier, and that the witness who opened the box after learning of the Sept. 15 incident at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida discovered ammunition, four phones and various letters. (per CBS News). Routh also left a handwritten letter with a man months before the attempted assassination, addressed “Dear World” which read: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster.”
A U.S. District Court filing asked that Routh be held in pre-trial detention, with a judge later ordering on Monday that he be held in jail pending trial. Routh has been in custody since he was arrested just over a week ago, and is charged with two federal firearms offenses after the apparent assassination attempt on Trump.
Trump was not harmed after an agent spotted a man’s face in the brush, later identified as Routh, and a rifle along the fence line outside of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Sept. 15. Prosecutors said in their latest filing that the suspect was in line with the 6th-hole green, and Trump was playing the 5th hole when the Secret Service agent opened fire and Trump was swiftly removed from the area. The FBI found in the fence line an AK-47 style rifle with a scope attached and extended magazine. The gun was loaded with 11 rounds, with the serial number on the rifle obliterated and unreadable. Secret Service agents also found a digital camera, backpack and reusable shopping bag hanging from the fence, which contained plates that “were capable of stopping small arms fire,” according to court documents.
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