The Department Of Justice has shared a chilling letter written by Donald Trump's would-be assassin, admitting he tried to take the former president's life.
On September 15, the 78-year-old former leader once again became the victim of an apparent "assassination attempt" while he was golfing at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Trump sent out a statement to supporters soon after, writing: “There were gunshots in my vicinity but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”
The armed suspect, who was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh of Hawaii, fled the scene in a black Nissan vehicle after being spotted on the golf course by the Secret Service. He was quickly captured by police on Interstate 95 in Martin County, about 40 miles north.
According to the Department of Justice, the 58-year-old suspect, who has a lengthy criminal history, dropped a handwritten note - addressed “to the world” - in a box at an unnamed person’s home in the months before the assassination attempt.
He allegedly penned in the chilling letter, which was shared with the FBI by a “civilian witness," per The Independent, that he intended to kill the former president - and predicted he would fail.
He then offered six figures to anyone who would complete the task.
Read the letter below:Routh allegedly wrote: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 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 a US president. US presidents must at bare minimum embody the moral fabric that is America and be kind, caring and selfless and always stand for humanity,” the letter read.
Prosecutors said the note was only found after the unidentified individual opened the box and alerted police officers in the wake of Routh’s arrest, per The New York Post.
The box also had “ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones” and several other letters.
Elsewhere in the note, Routh slammed Trump’s handling of Middle Eastern affairs, remarking that he “ended relations with Iran like a child and now the Middle East has unraveled," as cited by the outlet.
Authorities searched the area where Routh was hiding before the assassination attempt and found an AK-47-style rifle with a scope attached and two backpacks tied to the surrounding fence, which contained ceramic tiles.
They also discovered a GoPro camera attached to the fence, leading officials to believe that the suspect intended to record his actions.
Law enforcement also scoured the gunman's vehicle and found six cellphones, one of which "contained a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico," per Daily Mail, as well as 12 pairs of gloves, a Hawaiian driver's license in Routh's name, and a list of Trump's public appearances for August, September, and October.
In addition to this, they found a notebook with "dozens of pages filled with names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine, discussions about how to join combat on behalf of Ukraine, and notes criticizing the governments of China and Russia," per the outlet.
Routh is set to appear in federal court on Monday for a detention hearing. He is then expected to enter his plea of guilty or not guilty at his arraignment on September 30.
.jpg_HmKk4H?tr=h-40)
.jpg_S6OUSZ?tr=h-40)
.jpg_HmKk4H?tr=h-184)
.jpg_S6OUSZ?tr=h-184)