Ryan Root Charged With Attempted Assassination of Trump

Photo: Ryan Root

A man who was seen staking out Donald Trump's Florida golf course with a rifle has been charged with attempted assassination of the politician, federal prosecutors said, Reuters reports.

Authorities allege Ryan Root, 58, pointed a rifle at Trump's West Palm Beach golf course on Sept. 15 while the Republican presidential candidate was playing golf there. Root was ordered to remain in jail pending trial.

If convicted, Root faces life in prison.

The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon, who in July dismissed a criminal case alleging Trump illegally possessed classified documents after leaving office.

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Root has not yet pleaded guilty. His lawyers have unsuccessfully sought to have him released on bail. Prosecutors recently released evidence they say points to a plot to kill Trump. They allege that months before the shooting, Root gave a letter to someone alluding to an “assassination attempt on Donald Trump.”

They say Root spent a month in south Florida, and cellphone records show he was near Trump's golf course and Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He was found in possession of a handwritten list of dates and locations where Trump was or was scheduled to speak, court papers say.

Prosecutors say a Secret Service agent inspecting the golf course ahead of Trump opened fire after seeing a gun sticking through a fence, prompting Root to flee. He was arrested within an hour on a Florida highway.

Root was initially charged with possession of a firearm with a criminal record and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Prepared by: Sergey Daga