FACT CHECK: Did Merrick Garland Veto Charging Ryan Routh With Attempted Assassination?
A video shared on Instagram claims Attorney General Merrick Garland purportedly vetoed charging Ryan Wesley Routh with the attempted assassination of 2024 Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump.
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Verdict: False
Garland said he would “spare no resources” in an investigation of Routh, according to Newsweek. In addition, Routh has been charged in relation to the incident, a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) shows.
Fact Check:
Routh wrote a note indicating he’d engaged in an “assassination attempt” on Trump, according to NBC News. The note was included in a box that had been dropped off at a civilian’s residence “several months earlier” and was later turned over to law enforcement, the outlet reported.
The Instagram video claims Garland has purportedly vetoed charging Routh with the attempted assassination of Trump.
“The Attorney General Merrick Garland just vetoed charging Ryan Routh with attempted assassination. So I want you to think about what the thought process of Merrick Garland must be. He must somehow think that this man was in that bush on that golf course for some other reason,” the man who appears in the video says in part.
“There he was camped out in a bush on Donald Trump’s golf course, waiting on the 6th hole while Donald Trump was on the 5th hole minutes away from being within range of him. And thankfully, the secret service was able to notice the barrel of his rifle sticking out of that bush, and then they opened fire, he fled, and he was eventually apprehended.”
“But to not charge him with attempted assassination, that means that Merrick Garland has found some reason to think that Ryan [Routh] was there for some other reason, wearing body armor and carrying a fully loaded rifle,” he continues.
The claim is false. According to a Sept. 17 article from Newsweek, Garland said he would “spare no resources” in an investigation of Routh.
“The FBI is continuing to investigate the apparent assassination attempt of the former president that occurred on Sunday in Florida. We are grateful that he is safe,” Garland said at a press conference following the event.
Likewise, a Sept. 16 press release from the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs indicates Routh was charged with “possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.” According to the same release, a detention hearing is set for Sept. 23, and the investigation “remains ongoing.”
In addition, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports to support the claim. Actually, the opposite is true. On Sept. 20, PolitiFact reported the claim was false. (RELATED: Was Trump’s Would-Be Assassin A Registered Republican?)
Check Your Fact has contacted the DOJ for comment.
