Since his thwarted assassination attempt against President-elect Donald Trump on September 15, in West Palm Beach, Florida, Ryan Routh has been held in federal custody, where he faces charges of attempted assassination and assaulting a federal officer in addition to firearms charges. His trial is currently set to begin in February, though Routh has requested a continuance of the matter, and we await Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling on that request.
Advertisement
That the matter — involving the attempted assassination of a former and future president — is being handled via the federal system makes sense. However, it does not remain solely within the feds’ purview. Shortly after the incident, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced that the state would be conducting its own investigation into the matter, as it potentially involved state crimes as well as federal.
On Wednesday, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced that the state was filing its own charges against Routh, including an attempted felony murder charge:
🚨 BREAKING: Florida announces attempted felony murder charge and 18-page affidavit against Ryan Wesley Routh, attempted assassin of Trump.
Attorney General Ashley Moody says that a very young girl was devastatingly injured because Routh also fled the scene onto the highway.… pic.twitter.com/r2Gvf8kBkQ
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 18, 2024
From Moody’s remarks at that presser:
“The affidavit is 18 pages long…We will provide that to you immediately following this press conference. I will go into a little bit about the charge that underlies this attempted felony murder.
“Following the assassination attempt, the defendant chose to flee north on I-95. At this point, he was expected to have been the shooter based on witness testimony, and that was informed to those officers that were stopping him. Once they located him, protecting the public — not knowing what was in that vehicle in terms of explosive devices — they had to stop traffic in both directions in order to effectuate the stop, make the arrest, and assure the safety of the public…
“It was during that stop that a tragic accident occurred that seriously injured a 6-year-old girl who was traveling with her family. When you couple those terrible injuries together with his other criminal conduct, which we believe rises to the level of domestic terrorism, it turns his actions into an attempted felony murder case.”
Advertisement
In addition to thanking the state and local law enforcement personnel who have assisted in the investigation, Moody also stated they would continue to try and reach out to federal authorities and partner with them but expressed frustration with their seeming lack of cooperation.
Moody notes that the federal government has been uncooperative in working with the state on this issue, adding that Routh’s attempted escape endangered the life of a 6-year-old girl, which she says merits charges of “attempted felony murder.”
“As soon as we began those overtures, we immediately were confronted with a lack of willingness to allow us access to the crime scene, an unwillingness to provide evidence that was collected, an unwillingness to allow us to accompany witness interviews, and the list goes on and on,” Moody said.
“And in those discussions, both by prosecutors and federal agents, it was made known that they intended to shut down our investigation and invoke federal jurisdiction in doing so.”
DeSantis echoed Moody’s concerns with a statement on X, deriding the feds for stonewalling the state’s investigation into the matter.
Advertisement
The feds have stonewalled Florida’s investigation of the Trump assassination attempt at every turn, and I appreciate AG Ashley Moody and her team for plowing forward despite such resistance.
The tide will turn on January 20th and we fully expect that the federal roadblocks will… https://t.co/prxzX6BizD
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) December 18, 2024
The feds have stonewalled Florida’s investigation of the Trump assassination attempt at every turn, and I appreciate AG Ashley Moody and her team for plowing forward despite such resistance.
The tide will turn on January 20th and we fully expect that the federal roadblocks will be removed.
The would-be assassin needs to face the full force of justice and the people deserve the truth about the defendant’s history, motivations and plan.
Why the stonewalling? Could be something nefarious; could be something as banal as a simple territorial pissing match. Either way, it’s not a great look.
