Florida authorities will launch their own criminal investigation into the alleged assassination attempt on Donald Trump, alongside federal investigations, state Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday.
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The Republican lawmaker said local prosecutors would seek to compile the strongest possible indictment, possibly including a charge of attempted murder, which carries a possible life sentence, against Ryan Routh, who was arrested after the incident Sunday.
The 58-year-old American is suspected of hiding in a bush on the edge of a golf course where Donald Trump was, armed with an assault rifle, with the intention of shooting him dead. But he has so far only been charged with illegal possession of a firearm.
“It is very much in our interest to see this suspect held accountable,” said Ron DeSantis, who ran against Donald Trump in the Republican primary from May 2023 to January 2024. The self-proclaimed conservative has since rallied behind the billionaire’s candidacy.
By contrast, he argued, “it is not in the best interests of our state or our nation for these investigations to be conducted by the federal agencies involved in the prosecution of Donald Trump,” referring to the prosecution led by special counsel Jack Smith.
It is not uncommon for state authorities to conduct parallel investigations with federal police into the same facts, with the catalogue of available prosecutions sometimes being quite distinct in the two procedures.
