CNN —
Prosecutors on Tuesday charged Ryan Wesley Routh with attempting to assassinate the presidential candidate after he allegedly camped out outside Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course for hours, armed with a rifle and aiming it through a chain-link fence at the next hole Trump was going to play on September 15.
Prosecutors told a federal magistrate judge on Monday that Routh had been “stalking” Trump in Florida for more than a month, and said cellphone data showed him at golf courses and at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate between Aug. 18 and his arrest.
As the investigation continued, Routh was initially charged with two firearm-related offenses, including obliterating a firearm’s serial number and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.
Judge Eileen Cannon, a Trump appointee who oversaw and later dismissed a federal criminal classified documents case against the former president, was randomly appointed to oversee the case, according to court documents.
The charges against Routh include possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer, in addition to the two firearms-related charges Routh already faced.
According to the indictment, Routh “forcibly assaulted, opposed, obstructed, threatened or interfered with ‘Secret Service Special Agent No. 1,’ an officer and employee of the United States.”
Routh is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
“An attempted assassination of a former president is a heinous act,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a press conference announcing the antitrust lawsuit against Visa. “I am thankful that he is safe. As I said immediately after the incident, the Department of Justice will use all available tools to hold those responsible accountable.”
Garland noted that “over the last few days” investigators found information about the alleged assassination attempt and it was included in the court record of his detention hearing.
The attorney general also responded to a statement posted by President Trump on Monday evening accusing the federal government of mishandling the investigation into the assassination attempt, saying the Department of Justice should “let the state of Florida handle this case.”
Garland said the Justice Department would “work with and seek assistance from” Florida officials “in accordance with the law.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
