Ryan W. Routh’s cellphone was near the former president’s golf club in Florida beginning at 1:59 a.m. on Sunday, according to a federal criminal complaint.
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The main entrance to Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday.
The cellphone of the suspect charged on Monday in a possible assassination attempt against former President Donald J. Trump was near the golf course where the episode took place for nearly 12 hours, court records show.
The cellphone of Ryan W. Routh, the suspect, was “in the vicinity of the area along the tree line” of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., beginning at 1:59 a.m. on Sunday, according to a federal criminal complaint filed on Monday.
A Secret Service agent walking the perimeter of the course at 1:31 p.m. on Sunday saw what appeared to be a rifle poking out of the tree line. The agent fired at it, causing the gunman to flee.
The eight-page complaint does not mention whether the suspect fired his weapon.
A witness spotted the suspect leaving the scene in a Nissan sport-utility vehicle, the complaint says. Mr. Routh was stopped about 45 minutes later on Interstate 95 and told officers he knew why he was being stopped, the complaint says. The Nissan was using a stolen license plate.
ImageSheriff Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County, Fla., holding up a photo showing items belonging to the suspected gunman during a news conference on Sunday. Credit…Saul Martinez for The New York Times
The document also says that investigators found a digital camera and a loaded SKS-style semiautomatic assault rifle with an obliterated serial number by the chain-link fence where the rifle had been spotted. The SKS is a Soviet-era rifle developed in the 1940s that has appeared around the world in various conflicts and is popular in the United States, given its relatively low cost of around several hundred dollars.
In his first appearance in federal court, Mr. Routh, 58, was charged on Monday with possession of a firearm as a felon and with possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. The rifle has been sent to the F.B.I.’s laboratory in Quantico, Va., where experts will try to determine its serial number. The partly scratched number has made it difficult to trace the weapon’s origins.
The charges against Mr. Routh are, to an extent, preliminary. The Justice Department’s national security division, which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting assassination attempts, is taking a central role in the case and could bring additional, more serious charges in the coming weeks, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the situation. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Glenn Thrush contributed reporting.
Patricia Mazzei is the lead reporter for The Times in Miami, covering Florida and Puerto Rico. More about Patricia Mazzei
Adam Goldman writes about the F.B.I. and national security. He has been a journalist for more than two decades. More about Adam Goldman
See more on: U.S. Secret Service, Donald Trump
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Source: nytimes.com
