AP – Florida law enforcement officials will launch their own criminal investigation into the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump that will run parallel to the federal probe, Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Tuesday.
The governor said Florida prosecutors will pursue the most serious charges available under state law, including attempted murder, in the state-level investigation into Ryan Wesley Routh, who was charged on Monday with federal firearms offenses. “We have a very strong interest in holding this suspect accountable,” DeSantis told reporters.
It’s not uncommon for state and federal law enforcement agencies to run simultaneous investigations into crimes, as states may be able to bring charges that are unavailable at the federal level – and vice versa.
Routh is charged at the federal level so far only with gun crimes, but additional charges are possible as Justice Department prosecutors seek an indictment from a grand jury.
Prosecutors will often quickly bring the first charges they can and then add more serious charges later as the investigation unfolds.
“We will spare no resource in this investigation,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Tuesday during an event at the Justice Department.
Markenzy Lapointe, the top federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida, declined to comment on the state probe.
