(The Hill) — The suspect being investigated in the recent apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump wrote a letter detailing his plans months prior, prosecutors alleged in court documents filed Monday.
“Dear world, this was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster,” the alleged letter reads.
Prosecutors said Ryan Routh, the suspect, put the letter inside a box and dropped it off with an unnamed witness “several months” before he pushed the muzzle of a rifle through the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida on Sept. 15.
The witness only opened the box, which also contained ammunition and other letters, after learning of the incident.
The filing also revealed that Routh’s phone pinged cell towers near Trump’s golf course and Mar-a-Lago for nearly a month in the lead-up to the incident. When searching Routh’s car, authorities also purportedly found a handwritten list of dates and venues where Trump had appeared or was expected to be present.
The alleged letter went on to offer a $150,000 reward to “whomever can complete the job.”
“Everyone across the globe from the youngest to the oldest know that Trump is unfit to be anything, much less as US president. U.S. presidents must at bare minimum embody the moral fabric that is America and be kind, caring and selfless and always stand for humanity,” it reads.
A photo of the first page of the letter was attached as part of prosecutors’ written arguments for why Routh should continue to be detained. He is scheduled to appear in court later Monday for a detention hearing.
Routh faces charges of possessing a gun while a felon and having an illegally obliterated serial number on his firearm. Prosecutors are expected to seek an indictment from a grand jury in the coming days that could include additional charges.
Their new filing indicated that Routh traveled from the Greensboro, North Carolina, area to West Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 14.
After arriving in Florida, prosecutors say Routh’s cell phone pinged towers near Trump’s golf course and his Mar-a-Lago residence “on multiple days and times” in the weeks before the incident.
