“It’s very difficult to trust the Biden/Harris DOJ/FBI to investigate the assassination attempts, due to Election Interference and the FAKE CASES brought against me, including their control over local D.A.s and A.G.s. …”
Former President Donald Trump on Monday called the charges filed against a man who set up for an assassination attempt “a slap on the wrist” and demanded federal prosecutors allow the state of Florida to handle the case.
“The Kamala Harris/Joe Biden Department of Justice and FBI are mishandling and downplaying the second assassination attempt on my life since July,” Trump said in a statement released by his campaign. “The charges brought against the maniac assassin are a slap on the wrist.”
Federal prosecutors charged Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, with possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Federal prosecutors filed court documents Monday that provided new details about Routh’s attempt to kill the former president. The records show Routh had been planning to kill Trump for months. He also left a note that gives indication of his intentions.
Routh, resident of Hawaii and North Carolina and participant in the latter’s March 5 primary, left the note with a person federal prosecutors described as a civilian witness several months before the Sept. 15 incident. According to court records filed Monday, the person reached out to law enforcement on Wednesday. The letter offered money to anyone who would finish the job.
The letter reads in part, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”
In Routh’s vehicle, a Nissan Xterra, FBI agents found two additional license plates and six phones. One of the phones contained a Google search of how to get from Palm Beach County to Mexico. The agents also found 12 pairs of gloves, Routh’s Hawaii driver’s license, his passport and other documents. Those included a handwritten list of dates in August, September and October 2024 and venues where Trump had appeared or was expected to be present.
Trump said he wants Florida prosecutors to handle the case.
Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state has the jurisdiction to prosecute Routh for attempted murder and will be more transparent in its investigation than the federal government. Routh is the subject of three assassination investigations and could face life in prison if convicted of attempted murder.
Trump said he didn’t trust the U.S. Department of Justice or FBI as he races against Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House in November.
“It’s very difficult to trust the Biden/Harris DOJ/FBI to investigate the assassination attempts, due to Election Interference and the FAKE CASES brought against me, including their control over local D.A.s and A.G.s. …” Trump said in the statement. “If the DOJ and FBI cannot do their job honestly and without bias, and hold the aspiring assassin responsible to the full extent of the Law, Governor Ron DeSantis and State of Florida have already agreed to take the lead on the investigation and prosecution.”
Trump said the Florida charges were “more serious than the ones the FBI has announced.”
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Charlie Kirk Show producer Andrew Kolvet repeats extremely dubious claim purportedly made by “the surgeon who operated on Kirk.”
Monday Blaze Media (relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey) reported the following:
Turning Point USA spokesman and executive producer of the “Charlie Kirk Show” Andrew Kolvet revealed new details about the shooting that even doctors are calling a miracle. According to Kolvet, the surgeon who operated on Kirk claimed that the high-velocity bullet was powerful enough to kill multiple large animals — and “should have gone through” his body. But for some reason, Kirk’s body was able to stop it.
“I want to address some of the discussion about the lack of an exit wound with Charlie,” Kolvet wrote in a post on X.
“The fact that there wasn’t an exit wound is probably another miracle, and I want people to know,” Kolvet continued, explaining that he had spoken with the surgeon who worked on Charlie in the hospital.
“He said the bullet ‘absolutely should have gone through, which is very very normal for a high powered, high velocity round. I’ve seen wounds from this caliber many times and they always just go through everything. This would have taken a moose or two down, an elk, etc,’” he recalled.
“But it didn’t go through. Charlie’s body stopped it,” he added.
When he mentioned to the doctor that there were “dozens of staff, students, and special guests standing directly behind Charlie” when he was shot, the doctor reportedly replied, “It was an absolute miracle that someone else didn’t get killed.”
“His bone was so healthy and the density was so so impressive that he’s like the man of steel,” Kolvet recalls the doctor saying.
This is not a credible statement, and it raises a number of concerns.
It strikes me as very perplexing that a “surgeon operated on Kirk,” because in the video of the shooting, Charlie reacted with a decorticate posture—that is, an abnormal body posture characterized by flexion of the upper limbs—caused by severe trauma to the central nervous system. This indicates that the bullet either directly struck his cervical spinal cord, or the shock wave of the supersonic bullet passing near his spinal cord traumatized it.
A 150-grain, .30-06 bullet’s energy at 150 yards from the muzzle varies by ammunition, but a common hunting cartridge has an estimated value of approximately 1,800-2,000 foot-pounds (with the bullet traveling at about 2500 feet per second). In other words, the .30 caliber (.30 inch diameter) metal projectile struck his neck with sufficient kinetic energy to move a 2,000 pound mass a linear distance of one foot.
If the bullet that struck Charlie’s cervical spinal cord was a .30-06 fired from 150 yards away, it would have:
1). Severed his spinal cord, killing him instantly.
2). Passed through his neck.
Note that the cervical vertebrae are supported by strong muscles and have high compressive strength, but are far too delicate to stop a .30-06 bullet traveling at 2,500 feet per second.
If ALL of the kinetic energy of the bullet was absorbed by Charlie’s neck, it would have done spectacular trauma to his neck, as distinct from producing the clean bullet hole visible in the video footage that ruptured his Carotid artery.
Though I appreciate that some may find a supernatural explanation to be consoling, it seems to me that the investigation should not rest on the this explanation.
As I wrote a few weeks ago: If I were investigating the murder, I would consider the hypothesis that Charlie was shot with a weapon equipped with a suppressor and loaded with a subsonic cartridge to further reduce the sound. I have seen footage of someone firing a rifle with this setup, and the shot was amazingly quiet. The effective range of such a weapon is about 100 yards or less, and the shooter must be very skilled.
However, such a setup could fire a subsonic projectile that would penetrate a human neck without passing through it. In this scenario, the actual assassin (firing the suppressed rifle) hypothetically coordinated the timing of his shot with someone else firing a normal (supersonic and loud) rifle cartridge into the air at the same time to create a distraction or red herring.
In a functioning society in which the people trust their authorities—including their medical examiners—it would be easy to discover what happened and to disclose at least a preliminary report that would satisfy most reasonable people. The trouble our Republic is facing now is that so many of us no longer trust our federal and state authorities to tell us the truth.
For example, we have strong grounds for suspecting that medical examiners are not diligently investigating (with the proper analytic methods) unexpected, fatal cardiac arrests in young people to determine if they were caused by vaccine-induced myocarditis.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation released new Leger polling showing that half of Quebecers say the most effective way to reduce gun crime is to crack down on illegal gun smuggling from the United States, not a federal gun ban and confiscation.
“Law enforcement experts say the best way to make Canada safer is to stop illegal gun smuggling and Quebecers say exactly the same thing,” said Nicolas Gagnon, CTF Quebec Director. “It makes no sense to pour hundreds of millions into a confiscation that only takes guns from lawfully licensed gun owners.”
In 2020, the federal government launched its policy to confiscate thousands of so-called “assault-style” firearms from licensed gun owners. Ottawa recently announced a pilot project in Cape Breton to start taking firearms from individual owners.
The Leger poll asked Quebecers what they think is the most effective way to reduce gun crime. Results of the poll show:
51 per cent say introducing tougher measures to stop the illegal smuggling of guns into Canada from the United States
37 per cent say banning the sale and ownership of many different makes and models of guns along with a government buyback program
Six per cent say neither of these options
Seven per cent do not know
The results of the polls arrived as recorded remarks from Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree made headlines in September.
In a leaked audio recording, the minister suggested the confiscation program is being pushed in part because of voters in Quebec, while also expressing doubt that local police services have the resources to enforce it.
Police organizations have long warned Ottawa’s confiscation program is misguided. The RCMP union says it “diverts extremely important personnel, resources, and funding away from addressing the more immediate and growing threat of criminal use of illegal firearms.”
The program was first estimated to cost $200 million. Just providing compensation for the banned guns, not including administrative costs, could cost up to $756 million, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
Premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan have both publicly said that they would not cooperate with Ottawa’s gun ban. Premier François Legault has stayed silent on this issue.
“Quebecers have been clear: the real problem is illegal gun smuggling, not law-abiding firearms owners,” said Gagnon. “The police have also made it clear the gun confiscation will waste money that could be used to stop criminals from committing gun crimes.
“Legault needs to stand up for Quebec taxpayers and refuse to help implement Ottawa’s costly and ineffective confiscation scheme. The federal government needs to drop this plan and focus its resources on intercepting illegal guns at the border: that’s how you actually make communities safer.”
