Editor's note: A previous version of this story reported that Routh's state charges were for the attempted assassination itself, but they are actually related to a traffic accident that injured a 6-year-old girl after he allegedly fled the area in South Florida where officials say he was seen stalking Trump.
FLORIDA — Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said the state has filed felony charges against Ryan Routh — the accused attempted assassin of now President-elect Donald Trump in West Palm Beach in September.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Moody announced that Florida has charged Routh with attempted felony murder related to a traffic accident that injured a 6-year-old girl after he allegedly fled the area in South Florida where officials say he was seen stalking Trump.
Authorities said the 58-year-old was taken into custody on I-95 within an hour of being spotted at the fence line of the Trump International Golf Club on Sept. 15.
He is accused of planning to use an AK-47-style rifle.
Two days later, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the state would investigate the assassination attempt against Trump.
“The people deserve the truth about the would-be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee,” DeSantis wrote on X on Dec. 15.
Routh was initially charged in a criminal complaint only with gun offenses before federal prosecutors pursued additional charges before a grand jury in Miami.
On Sept. 30, Routh was indicted on five counts, including an assassination attempt on a former president, assaulting a federal officer and three firearms charges in what federal investigators say was an assassination attempt on Trump.
Routh now has additional charges filed against him related to the incident that day.
Prosecutors have said that he had written of his plans to kill Trump in a handwritten note months before his arrest in which he referred to his actions as a failed “assassination attempt on Donald Trump” and offered $150,000 for anyone who could “finish the job.” That note was in a box that Routh had apparently dropped off at the home of an unidentified witness months before his arrest.
This incident occurred two months after Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has acknowledged failings leading up to that shooting but has said that security worked as it should have to thwart a potential attack in Florida.
Florida's felony charge against Routh carries a sentence of up to life in prison.