Trump shooting suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, faces attempted murder charges

The man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course earlier this month has been indicted on federal charges.

Ryan Routh, 58, was charged with the murder in federal court Tuesday morning, just over a week after the botched assassination of the prominent political candidate.

He previously faced two weapons-related charges after police said he stabbed a gun through a fence at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club, where he is now on trial.

The charges were filed during the defendant’s second day in court, after the Justice Department asked a grand jury on Monday to approve the more serious charge of attempted murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Routh was previously sentenced to 20 years in prison after he kept the two-term presidential hopeful under surveillance for 12 hours, federal authorities said.

Ryan Routh, 58, faced the charges in federal court Tuesday morning, a little more than a week after the political candidate’s botched assassination. A sketch of Routh in a federal courthouse in West Palm Beach this week can be seen here

He already faced two weapons-related charges after officers said he stabbed a gun through a fence at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club, where he is now being tried.

“Violence directed against government officials endangers everything our country stands for, and the Department of Justice will use all available resources to [Routh] responsible for the attempted murder,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said of the updated indictment.

“The Department of Justice will not tolerate violence that strikes at the heart of our democracy, and we will seek out and hold accountable those who commit such violence.

“This has to stop.”

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco released her own statement, describing the suspect’s alleged actions as “a direct attack on our democracy.”

“Political violence has no place in this country — not then, not now, and never,” she said in a press release on Tuesday afternoon.

“Today’s charges reflect the Department’s continued determination to use all available resources to ensure the safety of government officials and to hold accountable those who target government officials, within the limits of the law.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray also responded to the development, noting in his own statement that the accusation of murder against a presidential candidate “strikes at the heart of our democratic system.”

“The FBI continues our investigation into this alleged conspiracy and will use the full scope and resources of the FBI to uncover and provide as much information as possible about what led up to the events in West Palm Beach,” Wray said.

Routh previously faced 20 years after he kept the two-term presidential hopeful under surveillance for 12 hours. He now faces life in federal prison, while Trump continued to campaign in Georgia on Tuesday

‘In our country we must hold people who use violence accountable.’

As the indictment was announced, Trump continued his campaign in Georgia on Tuesday, delivering a speech at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center in Savannah.

This comes as polls show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris locked in a neck-and-neck race ahead of the approaching election, with states like Georgia likely to play a decisive role in selecting the next president.

Trump appeared to focus in Savannah on promises to cut taxes and put more emphasis on American manufacturing.

He also spent much of his 90-minute speech criticizing Harris’ policies, with several experts suggesting he focus on his rival’s record in the current administration on the border and the economy.

During that time, Trump said nothing about the second attempt on his life, or about the hearing taking place just a few hundred miles away in the Sunshine State.

Prosecutors say Routh spent a month in South Florida stalking the former commander in chief, with cellphone records showing him near Trump’s golf course and Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on multiple occasions during that time.

Rough aimed an AK-47 at the former president while he was playing at the Trump International Golf Course, but was found before the politician set foot on the course

He was also found with a handwritten list of dates and locations where Trump would speak or appear, the indictment alleges, detailing how a Secret Service agent opened fire after seeing the weapon poked through a fence as he canvassed the golf course in preparation for Trump’s round.

That sent Routh fleeing, prosecutors said, adding that he was arrested within an hour along a nearby highway.

The federal government also produced a chilling letter in which he admitted his attempt to end the former president’s life had failed and offered $150,000 to anyone who could “finish” the job.

“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you,” reads part of the letter released Monday by the Justice Department and obtained by DailyMail.com.

“I’ve done my best and given all the courage I could muster. Now it’s up to you to do the job; and I’m offering $150,000 to whoever can do it.”

It was addressed to “the world” and accused Trump of “the end of the world.”[ing] relations with Iran have failed.

In other court documents, federal authorities wrote that the shooter was able to get close to Trump at his Florida golf course because he does not have the same security as a sitting president — as was the case in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.

The federal government also produced a chilling letter in which he admitted to failing to end the former president’s life. The defendant offered $150,000 to anyone who could “get the job done.”

Routh has not yet entered a plea. His lawyers have tried unsuccessfully to have him released on bail

Routh has not yet entered a plea. His lawyers tried to get him released on bail before his trial, but were unsuccessful.

Prosecutors allege that Routh delivered a letter to an unknown person several months before the incident in which he alluded to “an attempted assassination of Donald Trump.”

He was also convicted of unknown crimes in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010, federal authorities said Tuesday, adding that the FBI is investigating the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Division have commenced prosecution. The charges are now final.