Federal prosecutors charge Ryan Routh with attempted assassination of Donald Trump
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(WASHINGTON) — Federal prosecutors have officially charged Ryan Routh with attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump, a source familiar with the matter confirms to ABC News.
The move was expected and previewed both by prosecutors in a court hearing yesterday and by Attorney General Merrick Garland in a news conference this afternoon.
The charging documents have not yet been officially updated on Routh’s court docket. He is expected to be arraigned on the charges in a court hearing Monday.
(NEW YORK) — The second suspect who was arrested earlier this week in connection to the deadly Michigan home invasion on Oct. 11 that left 72-year-old Rochester Hills businessman Hussein Murray dead has been formally charged with multiple counts, including felony murder, police said.
“Joshua Zuazo, 39, of Dearborn, is charged in a three-count warrant issued today by prosecutors with felony murder – a life offense if convicted – and two counts of unlawful imprisonment – 15-year felonies,” said the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in a statement announcing the charges. “The warrant was signed late [Thursday] afternoon by 52-3 District Judge Laura Polizzi.”
Zuazo is now being held in the Oakland County Jail and is expected to be arraigned on the charges on Friday at 1:15 p.m. ET.
Murray was found dead Friday last Friday in the basement of his Rochester Hills home, according to the sheriff’s office. His wife, who called 911, had been tied up with her hands duct-taped.
The woman told law enforcement officials that the night before the attack, the two suspects had also shown up to the home claiming to be responding to a gas leak, but they were not allowed inside.
When they showed up again on Friday, they were let into the home, and her husband went with them into the basement, “ostensibly to look for the leak,” according to the sheriff’s department.
When they came back upstairs without her husband, they tied her up and taped her hands, the woman said. She did not see him come out afterward and “assumed he had been kidnapped.”
In home security camera footage released by the sheriff’s department, the since-arrested suspect can be seen wearing a utility worker’s uniform and a mask while holding a clipboard.
“We’re DTE. We’re checking for gas leaks,” the man can be heard saying in the video, naming the Michigan-based energy company.
The other suspect, Carlos Jose Hernandez, 37, was arrested last Saturday, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. He has been charged with murder, and law enforcement officials are seeking his extradition from Louisiana.
“I want to reiterate how proud I am of our whole team and what they did to quickly move this case forward, not only taking our suspects off the street, but bringing evidence to the prosecutor to move this into her court for the next phase,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement Thursday.
ABC News’ Julia Reinstein contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris said her heart is “full of resolve” after losing the presidential election to former President Donald Trump.
“My heart is full today — full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country and full of resolve,” Harris said Wednesday at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C.
“The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for. But … the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up,” Harris said.
Harris said she told Trump on the phone Wednesday that she’ll help with a peaceful transfer of power, which got a cheer from the crowd at Howard.
“We must accept the results of this election,” the vice president said.
“A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results,” Harris said, alluding to Trump’s refusal to acknowledge his loss of the 2020 election.
Harris stressed, “While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.”
“The fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness and the dignity of all people — a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation — the ideals that reflect America at our best,” she said.
Harris vowed that she’ll “never give up the fight for a future … where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body.”
“We will never give up the fight to protect our schools and our streets from gun violence,” she continued. “And America, we will never give up the fight for our democracy, for the rule of law, for equal justice, and for the sacred idea that every one of us, no matter who we are or where we start out, has certain fundamental rights and freedoms that must be respected and upheld.”
She said that fight will continue “in the voting booth, in the courts, and in the public square.”
“And we will also wage it in quieter ways, in how we live our lives, by treating one another with kindness and respect, by looking in the face of a stranger and seeing a neighbor,” she said. “By always using our strength to lift people up, to fight for the dignity that all people deserve.”
To her young supporters watching, the vice president said, “It is OK to feel sad and disappointed, but please know it’s gonna be OK.”
“Sometimes the fight takes a while. … The important thing is don’t ever give up,” she said.
“This is not a time to throw up our hands, this is a time to roll up our sleeves. This is a time to organize, to mobilize and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together,” she said.
Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff waved to the crowd after her remarks as Harris’ running mate, an emotional Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, looked on.
Harris’ family, Walz’s family, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Harris’ campaign staff were also in attendance.
Harris’ defeat came as Trump won the swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin overnight. Trump won another swing state, Michigan, on Wednesday.
Trump’s victory underscores just how deep voters’ frustrations were surrounding inflation and immigration, Republicans’ two top issues this election cycle as polls consistently showed Americans’ unhappiness with how President Joe Biden handled them. Trump’s return to the White House also suggests that Democrats were not motivated enough by the prospect of electing the first female president and that its base’s fury over the Supreme Court’s revocation of constitutional abortion protections has waned since 2022.
Biden plans to address the nation on Thursday.
ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Will McDuffie and Tal Axelrod contributed to this report.
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Sept. 13, 2024. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Amid Florida’s state investigation into the apparent assassination attempt made against Donald Trump, Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told the former president additional planning and security procedures are needed for him to continue his golf outings.
Trump met with Rowe to discuss future protocol Monday afternoon, sources familiar with the briefing told ABC News.
Trump was encouraged by the acting director to give more or as much notice as possible for golf outings or any type of trip where he would be out exposed to the public.
With more notice, the USSS can request assets from local police to, for example, walk or search grounds before the Secret Service arrives and to station manpower at various locations, sources said.
It’s not clear what changes Trump may make to his golf schedule considering Rowe’s recommendation for increased security and planning.
On Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he signed an executive order to launch a state investigation into Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt on Trump at his West Palm Beach golf club, saying “we need trust and transparency.”
During a news conference, DeSantis said he has assigned the state investigation to the Office of Statewide Prosecutor under the supervision of state Attorney General Ashley Moody. The governor said the state has jurisdiction over the “most serious straightforward offense, which is attempted murder,” which could carry a life sentence if the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, is convicted.
DeSantis questioned the federal government’s ability to properly investigate and prosecute the second assassination attempt in two months on Trump.
DeSantis said Americans are still waiting to learn the motive for the first attempt on the former president’s life at a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which a Secret Service sniper killed the suspect after he fired eight rounds with an AR-15-style rifle at Trump from the roof of a nearby building, investigators said. Trump suffered a bullet wound to the ear in the Butler incident and one rallygoer was killed and two were injured.
“In my judgment, it is not in the best interest of our state or our nation to have the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation, especially when the most serious straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law but not federal law,” DeSantis said.
The Department of Justice declined to comment when asked by ABC News for a response to DeSantis’ remarks.
Routh, a convicted felon, was arrested shortly after what FBI officials described as an “apparent assassination attempt” on Trump at the Republican presidential nominee’s Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. Federal prosecutors announced Monday that the 58-year-old Routh has been charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Routh was allegedly lying in wait on the periphery of the golf course for nearly 12 hours when a Secret Service agent several hundred yards ahead of Trump spotted the barrel of a rifle poking out from the tree line and opened fire on the gunman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida said Monday. Routh allegedly ran to a car and drove off, leaving behind a loaded SKS-style 7.62×39 caliber rifle with a scope and two bags, including a backpack, federal officials said.
A citizen helped catch Routh in neighboring Martin County after taking a photo of the suspect’s getaway car and giving it to police, officials said.
The FBI is leading the investigation of the incident and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida is prosecuting the case against Routh.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland made his first on-camera remarks Tuesday addressing the suspected assassination attempt.
“I just want to note the FBI is continuing to investigate the apparent assassination attempt of the former president that occurred on Sunday in Florida,” Garland said. “We are grateful he is safe. The entire Justice Department, particularly the FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Office the Southern District of Florida, the National Security Division are all coordinating closely with our local, state law enforcement partners on the ground. We will all work together to tirelessly determine accountability in this matter. We will spare no resource in this investigation.”
On Monday, Markenzy Lapointe, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said at a news conference that the “U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Department of Justice would be unable to carry forth our mission without the invaluable assistance of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners.”
Acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe Jr. said Monday that Trump was never in the line of sight of the suspected gunman and that the suspect did not get off a single shot.
Trump praised the Secret Service for protecting him during a phone call on Tuesday with ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl.
“I’m fine. The Secret Service did a good job, actually,” Trump said.
Asked by Karl if he thought the Secret Service has a good handle on protecting him during a heightened threat environment in the final days of the presidential campaign, Trump said, “Yeah, I do. I think Secret Service is doing a good job, and they did a very good job the last couple of days. On that event, I thought they were excellent.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose agency oversees the Secret Service, also praised Trump’s protection detail during an event hosted by Politico on Tuesday.
“They should be commended,” Mayorkas said.
Mayorkas said agents from the Secret Service eliminated the threat quickly and the agency has increased the former president’s protection.
“We, the United States Secret Service, has indeed enhanced the former president’s security posture so that he is receiving a level of security commensurate with the fact that he’s a former president and on the campaign trail,” Mayorkas said.
Moody said the state investigation into the incident will be handled by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol.
“The people of Florida deserve answers, and we will not stop until we know the truth and how we can best prevent similar attacks in Florida,” Moody said.
Moody said the state agencies will “investigate what happened when something went terribly wrong, when someone was allowed to remain on the periphery of a golf course in a tree line for 12 hours and get within 500 [yards]” of Trump.
Mark Glass, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said his agency will “hunt for the truth.”
“Florida is a law-and-order state and we will not sit idly by while anybody stonewalls information sharing amongst our law enforcement entities,” Glass said without elaborating. “We know that if we want answers, we’ve got to go get them.”
Routh is being held at Federal Detention Center Miami, according to the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator. He is expected to remain in custody there pending his detention hearing next Monday and likely his trial.
