Florida’s prosecutors will pursue a case against the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump over the “most serious straightforward offense, which is attempted murder,” Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday.
DeSantis said Tuesday he signed an executive order assigning the case involving the attempted assassination to the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, which prosecutes crimes that involve two or more judicial circuits in the state.
The state of Florida has jurisdiction to pursue charges in a way the federal government cannot, DeSantis said during a news conference in West Palm Beach.
The Office of Statewide Prosecution would be pursuing the case, given that authorities say the suspect was spotted at Trump’s golf course near West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County and later apprehended in Martin County. (And DeSantis noted it’s possible there may be a Broward County connection, too.)
For the second time in two days, DeSantis expressed doubts about the federal government’s ability to fairly and objectively investigate the apparent assassination attempt. Resembling remarks he made on Monday, DeSantis said Tuesday he doesn’t believe it would be “in the best interest of the state or the nation to have the same federal agencies seeking to prosecute Donald Trump” also leading the investigation into Trump’s second assassination attempt.
“In addition to holding the suspect accountable, the public deserves to know the truth about how this assassination came to be,” he said.
Tuesday’s news conference was held two days after authorities on Sunday arrested Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, in what they say was an apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Authorities on Sunday saw there was a firearm poking out of shrubbery along public access near the golf course where Trump was playing. A Secret Service agent assigned to Trump’s security detail opened fire, which authorities say prompted Routh to speed away before being captured by law enforcement in Martin County.
The potential shooter “did not fire or get off any shots at our agent,” Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. said Monday. “With reports of gunfire, the former president’s close protection detail immediately evacuated the president to a safe location.”
Bodycam footage posted Monday on Facebook by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office showed Routh’s arrest on Sunday. The video shows him walking backward with his hands over his head on the side of a road before being handcuffed and led away by law enforcement.
Routh appeared briefly on Monday morning before Judge Ryon M. McCabe in federal court at the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in West Palm Beach. One of the two counts he faces alleges that he illegally possessed his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions. The other charge alleges that the serial number was “obliterated,” or unreadable, in violation of federal law.
On Monday, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Trump called him Sunday night and thanked him and the Secret Service and said he “feels safe.”
“That’s important, because he is,” Bradshaw said.
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