The suspect in a second alleged assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump wrote and self-published a book last year, in which he encouraged Iran to assassinate the former commander-in-chief.
Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested on Sunday and charged on Monday for the alleged assassination attempt, which was thwarted by the Secret Service. Routh allegedly stalked the former president at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday and had aimed his gun at Trump before he was spotted by Secret Service.
The incident is the second such assassination attempt on the former president this year, after he was hit in the ear by a bullet at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Routh has expressed a wide range of political views, showing support for Nikki Haley, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard, and even Trump in the past, according to the Associated Press. Routh has also attempted to recruit fighters for Ukraine, and told Iran that it could kill Trump.
“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote to Iran in his book “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War." He also described the former president as a "buffoon" and a "fool" for his role in the January 6 riot, and for leaving the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
Routh also admitted in the book that he voted for Trump, and therefore is partly to blame for "[the] child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless.”
Although Routh admitted to voting more conservative in the past by supporting Trump, his opinion more recently appeared to favor Democrats, including encouraging Americans to vote for President Joe Biden in April, because “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose."
Routh also urged Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in July to visit the other people who were injured and the family of the man killed in the July 13 assassination attempt, claiming Trump would not do anything for them.
Trump has spoken with the other victims and the family of the firefighter, Corey Comperatore, who was killed. He also had Comperatore's uniform on stage during the Republican National Convention.
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