Suspect in Trump shooting attempt urged others to ‘finish the job’

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — The man suspected of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump last week left a note several months ago urging others to “finish the job” and offering $150,000 to anyone who managed to kill the Republican presidential candidate. Prosecutors said suspect Ryan Routh placed the chilling handwritten letter in a box containing tools and building materials left at the home of an unnamed associate. Addressed to “The World,” the message denigrated Trump’s moral character and faulted him for his policy toward Iran. “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. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job,” Routh allegedly wrote in a portion of the letter prosecutors revealed in a court filing Monday morning, prior to a scheduled bail hearing for the suspect. “Everyone across the globe, from the youngest to the oldest, know that Trump is unfit to be anything, much less a U.S. president,” Routh continued in the letter. “U.S. presidents must at a bare minimum embody the moral fabric that is America, and be kind, caring and selfless and always stand for humanity.” According to the court filing, Routh also complained in the missive that Trump “ended relations with Iran like a child and now the Middle East has unraveled.” Routh wrote a rambling, self-published book last year that bitterly denounced Trump and appeared to call for his killing by Iran over his decision to back out of the deal to end Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Cell phone records showed that Routh traveled from North Carolina to West Palm Beach on Aug. 14, prosecutors said in the filing. He also had visited the site of the alleged assassination attempt multiple times in the days leading up to his arrest, according to the cell data. Trump was golfing in Palm Beach on Sept. 15 when a Secret Service agent spotted Routh with a semi-automatic rifle behind a chain-linked fence and shot in his direction. Routh tried to flee the scene but was later arrested. Routh has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, but so far not with attempted assassination. His previous convictions were in North Carolina. One was in 2002, when he was convicted of having an explosive device, and the other was in 2010, when he was convicted of possessing stolen goods. The FBI’s investigation is ongoing and it’s possible Routh will face additional charges. At Monday’s hearing, a federal magistrate judge is set to consider whether Routh — who has been in custody for the last week — can be released on bail while he awaits trial. As part of their search warrant of Routh’s vehicle, investigators also uncovered two additional license plates, 12 pairs of gloves and six cell phones, one of which recently showed a Google search of how to travel from West Palm Beach to Mexico. A notebook had dozens of pages with names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine and details about how to join combat in its war against Russia. Both a backpack and a shopping bag were found on the fence near where the Secret Service agent opened fire on Routh. Each bag was later found to contain a ballistic plate capable of stopping small arms fire, the court filing Monday said. Leonard reported from West Palm Beach. Gerstein reported from Washington.

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