In the latest battle between state and federal authorities trying to nab Trump's alleged would-be assassin, the state of Florida on Wednesday obtained an arrest warrant for attempted felony murder against Ryan Routh for traffic stops resulting in severe injury to a six-year-old girl.
The pursued charges come months after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the state would conduct its own investigation into the Sep. 15 assassination attempt on Donald Trump, citing a deep mistrust of the federal authorities, despite the national government attempting to shut down the smaller investigation.
Now, three months after 58-year-old Routh allegedly tried to kill the former (and now future) president, and after a slew of territory battles with the feds, Attorney General Ashley Moody has filed a warrant in Martin County to apprehend Routh on state charges because a sudden traffic stop to capture him resulted in an accident causing a six-year-old girl to "almost die."
"We felt compelled to seek justice on her behalf and her [for] her family that will never be the same as they cope with her injuries," Moody told onlookers at a Stuart press conference, filling in for the Tallahassee-trapped Gov. DeSantis after his plane was grounded amid dense North Florida fog. She said that the federal government continued to tell the state to "not bring charges" against Routh and to "not investigate" because it was their purview.
Florida persisted.
"We move[d] forward with charges of attempted felony murder to pursue justice on behalf of this little girl," said Moody, swiping at the feds for their lack of support. "And so this morning, we obtained an arrest warrant, supported by a criminal report, affidavit, and complaint."
Routh is currently being held at the Federal Detention Center in Miami on charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate. Moody wants him to be moved to Martin County to reflect his choice to flee north on I-95, resulting in highway patrol stopping traffic flows in both directions to capture the would-be shooter, which caused the accident and hurt the six-year-old.
Moody harped on the federal government for declining the state's help and dissuading them from pursuing their own investigation, even though she and DeSantis claimed that the federal government didn't have jurisdiction to seek the most serious charge (they did). Despite this, she slammed them for icing the state out of the investigation, including refusing to meet with her and other attorneys, she said Wednesday.
But that behavior will soon change.
"I expect a new day is coming. I expect that next month, we will see new leadership in agencies that will rightly reach out as intended and as is done historically," Moody said. She referred to Trump's inauguration next month, which will likely include former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi becoming the U.S. Attorney General and former prosecutor Kash Patel scoring the FBI Director job.
The relationship between the Trump administration, heavily made up of the Florida talent pool, and Sunshine State conservatives is expected to be leagues better than the current situation; in October, the state of Florida sued Attorney General Merrick Garland for blocking the state probe into the Trump assassination attempt.
