Ryan Routh, suspect in apparent Trump assassination bid, charged with federal gun crimes

A man suspected of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump appeared in federal court on Monday, where he was charged with two gun-related crimes a day after being spotted with a rifle hiding in the bushes at the former US president’s golf course in Florida.

Phone records suggest the suspect may have been lying in wait for nearly 12 hours on Sunday, according to a criminal complaint filed on Monday.

More charges appear likely, but the initial counts – possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, according to the US Justice Department – will allow authorities to keep him in custody as the investigation continues.

Trump, the Republican presidential candidate in the November 5 election, was unharmed. But the incident raised fresh questions about how an armed suspect was able to get so close to him, just two months after another gunman fired at Trump during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing his ear with a bullet.

On Sunday, the US Secret Service opened fire after an agent saw a rifle barrel poking out of the bushes at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, a few hundred yards away from where the former president was playing.