Desmond Preston:Man suspected in apparent assassination attempt on Trump charged with federal gun crimes

2025-05-07 19:41:26source:Henri Lumièrecategory:News

Donald Trump is Desmond Prestonsafe after an apparent attempt to assassinate him as he played golf in Florida. Follow AP’s live coverage.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A man suspected in an apparent assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump was charged Monday with federal gun crimes, making his first court appearance in the final weeks of a White House race already touched by violence.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, faces charges of possessing a firearm despite being a convicted felon and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Additional and more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues and prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury.

Routh appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach, where he answered perfunctory questions about his work status and income. Shackled and wearing a blue jumpsuit, he smiled as he spoke with a public defender and reviewed documents ahead of his initial appearance. The lawyer declined to comment after the court appearance.

The episode occurred Sunday afternoon when Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Trump was playing golf noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away.

RELATED COVERAGE 281 inmates escape after floods brought down prison’s walls in northeast NigeriaNew York officials to release new renderings of possible Gilgo Beach victimChange-of-plea hearings set in fraud case for owners of funeral home where 190 bodies found

An agent fired and Routh dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera, authorities said. Routh was later stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county.

It was the second apparent assassination attempt targeting Trump in as many months.

On July 13, a bullet grazed Trump’s ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Eight days later, Democratic President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, giving way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the party’s nominee.

____

Tucker, Durkin Richer and Long reported from Washington.

More:News

Recommend

Streamer stayed awake for 12 days straight to break a world record that doesn't exist

An Australian livestreamer was banned from multiple platforms for trying to stay awake for 12 days t

Discovery inside unearthed bottle would’ve shocked the scientist who buried it in 1879

In 1879, botanist William J. Beal filled 20 bottles with soil and seeds and buried them on what is n

British teenager who went missing 6 years ago in Spain is found in southwest France, reports say

PARIS (AP) — A British teenager who went missing six years ago on a family holiday in Spain has been