US to seek attempted assassination charge against man accused of staking out Trump at golf course

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The man accused in the assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a golf course in Florida left behind a note detailing his plans to kill the former president and kept in his car a handwritten list of dates and venues where Trump was to appear, the Justice Department said Monday. Trump complained that the current holding charges against the man were too light, but prosecutors indicated much more serious attempted assassination charges were coming. U.S. Magistrate Ryon McCabe agreed, saying the “weight of the evidence against the defendant is strong” and ordered him to stay behind bars. The latest details were meant to bolster the Justice Department’s contention that the 58-year-old suspect had engaged in a premeditated plan to kill Trump, a plot officials say was thwarted by a Secret Service agent who spotted a rifle poking out of shrubbery on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing and then opened fire in Routh’s direction. The note describing Routh’s plans was placed in a box that he dropped off months earlier at the home of an unidentified person who did not open it until after last Sunday’s arrest, prosecutors said. The person who received the box and contacted law enforcement was not identified in the Justice Department’s detention memo and was described only as a “civilian witness.” One note Routh left, addressed “Dear World,” appears to have been premised on the idea that the assassination attempt would be unsuccessful. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job,” the note said, according to prosecutors. The letter offers “substantial evidence of his intent,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Dispoto said in court Monday. In a statement, Trump accused the Justice Department of “mishandling and downplaying” the apparent assassination attempt by bringing charges that were a “slap on the wrist.” Routh is currently charged with illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina, and with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. But Dispoto said in court Monday that prosecutors would pursue additional charges before a grand jury accusing him of having tried to “assassinate a major political candidate” — charges that would warrant life in prison in the event of a conviction. Trump also claimed that the Justice Department has a conflict of interest in prosecuting this case since, under the supervision of a special counsel, it is simultaneously pursuing cases charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 election and with hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. What to know about the 2024 Election Today’s news: Follow live updates Ground Game: Sign up for AP’s weekly politics newsletter AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Kristy Militello, an assistant federal public defender representing Routh, asked during Monday’s hearing for Routh to be permitted to live with his sister in Greensboro, N.C., as the case moves forward. Besides the note, prosecutors also cited cellphone records indicating that Routh traveled to West Palm Beach from Greensboro in mid-August, and that he was near Trump’s golf club and the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence “on multiple days and times” between Aug. 18 and the day of the apparent attempted assassination. He was arrested Sept. 15 after a Secret Service agent who was scoping the Trump International Golf Club for potential security threats saw a partially obscured man’s face, and the barrel of a semiautomatic rifle, aimed directly at him. The agent fired at Routh, who sped away before being stopped by officials in a neighboring county, leaving behind a loaded rifle, digital camera, a backpack and a reusable shopping bag that was hanging from a chain link fence. The Justice Department also said Monday that authorities who searched his car found six cellphones, including one that showed a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico. They also found a list with dates in August, September and October and venues where Trump had appeared or was scheduled to, according to prosecutors. In addition, the detention memo cites a book authored by Routh last year in which he lambasted Trump’s approach to foreign policy, including in Ukraine. In the book, he wrote that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump” for having left the nuclear deal. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://apnews.com/1295144a65f46059ce39b4ccd7288fbc