Martin County, Florida, Sheriff Will Snyder said on Monday that federal authorities are “laser-focused” on whether the man who allegedly attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Sunday is “part of a conspiracy.”
Snyder, who oversees the county where suspected would-be assassin Ryan Routh was arrested, held a press conference Monday morning and answered questions about the early stages of the investigation into the assassination attempt on Trump. The sheriff said that Routh doesn’t have any ties to Martin County and is not from the area, which “raises [a] bigger question.”
“How does a guy from not here get all the way to Trump International, realize that the former president of the United States is golfing, and is able to get a rifle in that vicinity?” Snyder asked. “I think that’s the question the FBI, the Secret Service are laser-focused on today: is this guy part of a conspiracy? Is he a lone gunman?”
“If he’s a lone gunman, President Trump is much safer because we have him, but if he’s part of a conspiracy, then this whole thing really takes on a very ominous tone,” the sheriff added.
JUST IN: Martin County Sheriff Will Snyder suggests would-be Trump assass*n Ryan Routh could be part of a bigger conspiracy during a press conference.
The comments mirror those made by former assistant FBI director Chris Swecker.
Reporter: Does Ryan Routh have any ties to… pic.twitter.com/nXBQAFyI3x
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Snyder’s statements are similar to remarks made by former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker, who told Newsweek on Monday morning, “The biggest question to answer is: ‘How did the would-be assassin know to be at that location at that time?’ There are only three possible answers: He guessed and got very lucky; he conducted surveillance on Trump and followed him to the golf course or he had inside information about Trump’s schedule.”
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“The last answer is scary and has implications that another person was involved,” Swecker added.
Routh posted his disdain for Trump multiple times on social media, including one post where he wrote, “While you were my choice in [2016], I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment [sic] and it seems you are getting worse and devolving. I will be glad when you gone.”
Routh, 58, was convicted in 2002 of possessing a fully automatic machine gun. That year, he reportedly barricaded himself inside a Greensboro, North Carolina, business with a gun. On Sunday, after Routh was stopped by Secret Service agents and apprehended by authorities, agents found an AK-47-style rifle, a GoPro, and backpacks behind some bushes where Routh allegedly set himself up to take a shot at Trump.
Routh reportedly traveled to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion and attempted to recruit fighters to help Ukraine fight Russia. “I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE,” he wrote on X in 2022.
Routh was charged on Monday with two federal gun crimes and could face more charges pending the federal government’s investigation into his alleged attempt to shoot Trump. Routh will be formally arraigned at the end of the month.
