US prosecutors have charged a man arrested near Donald Trump’s Florida golf course with the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate.
It comes a day after a court filing showed Ryan Wesley Routh had written a note months ago saying he intended to kill Trump.
Routh, 58, already faces up to 20 years behind bars on two gun-related charges.
But he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on the new, more serious charge.
“Violence targeting public officials endangers everything our country stands for,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, vowing to “use every available tool” to hold Routh accountable.
Trump has accused the government of mishandling the case, writing in a social media post on Monday that the justice department should “LET FLORIDA HANDLE THE CASE!”
But Garland rebuffed that, telling reporters on Tuesday that his agency will “seek to cooperate and get assistance from” state officials “consistent with the law”.
Court documents show the case has been assigned through random selection to US District Judge Aileen Cannon.
Cannon is the South Florida judge who was assigned last year to Trump’s federal classified documents case and who threw it out earlier this year. Her decision is currently under appeal.
A separate judge on Monday ordered Routh to remain in custody after prosecutors argued he was a flight risk and a danger to the community.
The suspect is being held at a detention centre in South Florida since his arrest on September 15. (BBC)
