Man Charged in Second Trump Assassination Attempt Wrote That He 'Failed' the World, According to Prosecutors

The man charged in connection with an alleged attempted assassination of Donald Trump at the former president’s Florida golf club is accused of writing a letter saying, “This was an assassination attempt” months before the incident.

The apparent assassination attempt occurred on Sept. 15 at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. Trump was unharmed in the incident.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58 — who is accused of pointing a long black rifle out of a wooded area as the former president golfed — was arrested after fleeing the scene, the Department of Justice previously said.

In a pre-trial detention motion filed on Monday, Sept. 23, and obtained by PEOPLE, federal prosecutors claim that a witness called police and said that months before the attempt, Routh had dropped off a box at his home. After learning about the apparent attempt on Trump’s life, prosecutors say the witness opened the box.

Inside the box, according to prosecutors, were several letters, including a handwritten one addressed to “The World.”

“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you,” Routh allegedly wrote in the letter. “I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster.”

Routh allegedly went on to offer $150,000 to anyone who could “complete the job.”

The box also contained ammunition, a metal pipe, multiple phones. tools and building materials, prosecutors say.

After searching Routh’s car, authorities allegedly found a handwritten list of dates and venues where Trump had either appeared or was expected to appear, the motion states, as well as a notebook containing phone numbers and discussions regarding the war in Ukraine, specifically how to join the combat in support of the country.

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Prosecutors also say the FBI has since reviewed a book that was self-published by Routh, in which he allegedly wrote that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump.”

Routh is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number in connection with the Sept. 15 incident. 

In 2002, Routh was convicted of possession of a weapon of mass destruction, North Carolina criminal records indicate. He has subsequently been convicted of possession of stolen goods.

In July, Trump was the target of another attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania in July. Trump suffered a minor wound to his ear but was otherwise unharmed, while a rally-goer was killed.