Foiled Trump assassin tried to buy rocket from Ukraine, targeted plane: DOJ

Ryan Wesley Ruth, the man arrested for trying to assassinate President Trump

at his Mar-a-Lago golf course in September, tried to buy a rocket launcher from a Ukrainian contact

with Trump's plane being his intended target, according to a new DOJ filing

The court documents revealed Ruth sent a photo of Trump's plane to a Ukrainian associate

and wrote in a message, Trump's plane, he gets on and off daily

In messages sent just one month before his arrest at Mar-a-Lago, Ruth said

Ruth allegedly asked the associate about the price of the weapon and if it could be shipped

and said, I need equipment so that Trump cannot get elected, according to prosecutors

He also said of the rocket, those items lost and destroyed daily, and one missing would not be

noticed. The DOJ says Ruth also discussed the assassination attempt at a Trump rally in

Pennsylvania, to which Ruth allegedly said, I wish, through an encrypted messaging app

In the DOJ filing prosecutors say attempting to purchase a destructive device to blow up President Trump airplane lies squarely within the realm of an attempt on his life And Ruth statement about the purpose of the purchase that he needs equipment so that Trump cannot get elected drives home his intent

It's not clear by this DOJ filing who Ruth was sending messages to

The DOJ says Ruth was communicating with someone he believed to be a Ukrainian contact

Ruth was arrested September 15th after being spotted with a rifle at Trump's Florida golf course

Trump was on the course at the time, a few hundred yards away, when a Secret Service agent spotted Ruth's rifle sticking out from a tree line

The DOJ filing also says Ruth planned to flee to Mexico after his planned assassination

saying he told another contact in Mexico he would be in the country after September 15th

The DOJ is asking the court to admit evidence that Ruth had stolen license plates and used several aliases

Ruth has pleaded not guilty and will be in court again April 15th with his trial expected to begin in September

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