Florida law enforcement officials will launch their own criminal investigation into the apparent assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump that will run parallel to the federal probe, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday.
The governor said Florida prosecutors will pursue the most serious charges available under state law, including attempted murder, in the state-level investigation into Ryan Wesley Routh, who was charged Monday with federal firearms offences.
"We have a very strong interest in holding this suspect accountable," DeSantis told reporters.
It's not uncommon for state and federal law enforcement agencies to run simultaneous investigations into crimes, as states may be able to bring charges that are unavailable at the federal level -- and vice versa.
Routh is charged at the federal level so far only with gun crimes, but additional charges are possible as Justice Department prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury. Prosecutors will often quickly bring the first charges they can and then add more serious charges later as the investigation unfolds.
"We will spare no resource in this investigation," Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday during an event at the Justice Department.
Markenzy Lapointe, the top federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida, declined to comment on the state probe.
DeSantis said it will be handled by Florida's office of statewide prosecution, overseen by Attorney General Ashley Moody.
The FBI has interviewed the suspect's family members, friends and colleagues and is working to collect evidence. Authorities have requested search warrants seeking access to a video recording device, cellphones, a vehicle and electronics at Routh's previous addresses.
FBI agents were spotted Tuesday at Routh's home in Kaaawa, Hawaii. FBI Honolulu office spokeswoman Sarah Rice said they were carrying out "court-authorized law enforcement activity." She said the court documents authorizing the activity were sealed.
No motive has been disclosed, and Routh invoked his right to an attorney when questioned, officials said.
Coming just weeks after a July 13 shooting at a Pennsylvania campaign rally where Trump was grazed by a gunman's bullet, the latest assassination attempt accelerated concerns that violence continues to infect American presidential politics.
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, who is Trump's Democratic opponent in November, spoke with him Tuesday to express how grateful she is that he is safe, according to the White House.
Routh, 58, was arrested Sunday after authorities spotted a gun poking out of shrubbery on the golf course where Trump was playing. Routh camped outside the golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours, lying in wait for the former president before a Secret Service agent thwarted the potential attack and opened fire.
Routh did not fire any shots, never had Trump in his line of sight and sped away, leaving behind a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a plastic bag containing food, officials said. He was arrested in a neighbouring county.
Routh's attorney declined to comment after he appeared briefly in federal court Monday, when a judge ordered that he remain locked up after prosecutors argued that he was a flight risk. Routh has been moved from the Palm Beach County jail to the federal lockup in Miami. A federal magistrate set additional hearings for later this month.
In the federal case, Routh is charged with illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina. The other charge alleges that the weapon's serial number was obliterated and unreadable to the naked eye, in violation of federal law.
Federal investigators are examining Routh's large online footprint, which suggests a man of evolving political viewpoints, including recently an apparent disdain for Trump, as well as intense outrage at global events concerning China and especially Ukraine.
"You are free to assassinate Trump," Routh wrote of Iran in an apparently self-published 2023 book titled "Ukraine's Unwinnable War," which described the former president as a "fool" and "buffoon" for both the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the "tremendous blunder" of leaving the Iran nuclear deal.
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Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale and Zeke Miller in Washington also contributed to this report.
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