Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order on Tuesday assigning the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution and Florida agencies to oversee the state’s independent investigation into the second assassination attempt against President Donald Trump.
“[I]t’s not in the best interest of our state or our nation to have the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation,” DeSantis said during a press conference, noting how this is “especially [true] when the most serious, straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law, but not federal law.”
“In addition to holding the suspect accountable, the public deserves to know the truth about how this assassination [attempt] came to be,” he continued.
The GOP governor’s announcement came two days after suspect Ryan Routh was spotted by Secret Service camping in bushes near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course. The former president was playing golf several hundred yards away when agents noticed Routh, who was armed with a large rifle.
The suspect reportedly fled the scene in a car after being fired upon by the Service and was later apprehended. Routh “appeared in federal court on Monday and is being charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person (convicted felon) and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number,” Florida’s Voice News reported, citing a case complaint.
It is reportedly possible that more charges will be filed against the suspect, according to Fox News.
Routh is a longtime Democrat donor who has regurgitated “anti-Trump rhetoric” often used
