Suspect waited 12 hours near Trump golf course

A man suspected in an apparent attempt to assassinate former US president Donald Trump at his Florida golf course hid out for nearly 12 hours beforehand, according to a court complaint.

The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged with two federal gun crimes on Monday.

The incident Sunday afternoon raised questions about how an armed person was able to get so close to Trump, the Republican presidential candidate in the Nov 5 election, two months after a gunman fired at Trump during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, cutting his ear with a bullet.

Trump's visit to his golf course in West Palm Beach was not on his public schedule, US Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe said Monday.

A Secret Service agent who was "walking the perimeter" of the course, according to the criminal complaint, opened fire after seeing a rifle barrel poking out of bushes a few hundred yards away from Trump, who was on the fifth hole fairway.

The gunman fled in a Nissan sport utility vehicle "at a high rate of speed", according to the complaint filed in US District Court in West Palm Beach. Officers found a loaded SKS assault-style rifle with a scope, a digital camera and a plastic bag of food.

Records show a phone associated with Routh was located at the golf course starting at 1:59 am on Sunday EDT, according to the complaint. Federal agents had requested Routh's location data from his wireless provider.

The suspect was on the public side of a fence along the course's boundary, Rowe said.

Routh was arrested about 40 minutes after the incident, driving north on Interstate 95. The license plate on his vehicle had been reported stolen from a Ford truck. Bodycam footage of Routh's arrest was released by the Martin County Sheriff's Office.

"There have been previous individuals who have taken pictures of the former president while he's golfing," Dave Aronberg, the state attorney for the district that covers Palm Beach County, told Fox News. "They've gone through the shrubs and been able to poke a camera through the fencing. You would think that perhaps maybe they would consider someone scoping the perimeter."

A 2019 tip to the FBI alleged that Routh was a convicted felon who illegally possessed a firearm, Jeffrey Veltri, the agent in charge of the FBI's Miami field office, told reporters.

In court on Monday, Routh was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He is expected back in court for a bond hearing on Sept 23 and an arraignment on Sept 30.

In 2002, Routh pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered fully automatic gun, which in North Carolina is defined as a weapon of mass destruction, according to the county district attorney's office. He was sentenced to probation.

Routh is a staunch supporter of Ukraine and has traveled there, seeking to recruit foreign fighters in the country's military conflict with Russia.

Social media accounts linked to Routh's name showed posts on  Ukraine as well as claims that Trump is a threat to American democracy.

On April 21, Routh directed a post on X to Elon Musk, owner of X and founder of SpaceX: "I would like to buy a rocket from you. I wish to load it with a warhead for Putins Black sea mansion bunker to end him. Can you give me a price please."

In another X post, Routh wrote to US President Joe Biden: "@POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA ...make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose."

Public access to the Facebook and X profiles has been removed.

Trump has questioned the amount of aid the United States has provided to Ukraine and has vowed to end the war immediately if elected.

Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, has promised continued support for Ukraine.

Trump claimed that Routh was acting on Democrats' "highly inflammatory language".

"Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out," he said, according to Fox.

Biden and Trump had a "cordial conversation" on Monday, White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Emilie Simons posted on X.

The Secret Service has been under scrutiny since the July shooting. The agency needs more help, including possibly more personnel, Biden told reporters on Monday, adding: "Thank God the president's OK."

Agencies contributed to this story.