We are
here to announce that Ryan,
Wesley, Ralph, 58 years old, of Hawaii,
has been charged by a criminal complaint
in the Southern District of Florida
with firearms offenses
related to an incident
which occurred yesterday
at Trump International Golf Course
right here in West Palm Beach.
Ross was charged
with possession of a firearm
by a convicted felon
in possession and receipt
of a firearm
with an obliterated serial number.
He had his initial appearance today
before Magistrate Judge
Ryan McCabe
in the federal courthouse
in West Palm Beach.
The FBI immediately
responded to the scene
here in West Palm Beach, Florida,
and we are investigating this matter
as an apparent assassination
attempt of former President Trump.
We view this as as extremely serious
and are determined to provide answers
as to what led up to the events
which took place.
I want to emphasize we're
just a little over 24 hours
into this investigation,
so we're going to provide
as much as we can publicly.
While our investigation is still ongoing,
we must also stress
that the United States
Attorney's Office is pursuing charges,
and that limits
some of the details
that we can discuss publicly.
Yesterday afternoon, Martin County
Sheriff's Office
took custody of Ryan Ralph,
and he was transported back to Palm
Beach County Sheriff's Office.
Our FBI agents
then attempted to interview him,
and he invoked his right to an attorney
in the last 24 hours.
The FBI and our partners
have been dedicated
to investigating the incident
and utilizing all available resources.
These efforts have included
our investigative team
and the United States Attorney's Office
for the Southern District of Florida,
in conjunction with DOJ's
National Security Division,
are actively working hand in hand
to pursue and subsequently execute
search warrants.
Thus far,
the warrants
include a video recording device,
subject's cellular devices, a vehicle,
and other electronic devices located
at previous known addresses.
We are coordinating
with the United States
Secret Service to complete
numerous interviews of agents on scene.
We have also interviewed
seven civilian witnesses at the scene,
and that is just the beginning.
Our FBI's Honolulu and Charlotte Field
offices have initiated
interviews of several family
members,
friends
and former colleagues of the subject.
FBI has deployed several special teams
to assist
and assets from FBI headquarters
and our lab division in Quantico
to include evidence
and critical incident response personnel.
The Evidence Response Team is collecting
and processing
multiple evidentiary items.
These range from the rifle,
which is an SKS model with a scope
and obliterated serial numbers
to two bags.
The subject's electronics,
and what appears to be ceramic tiles.
DNA has also been collected
from those items,
which are being sent to Quantico
for testing.
We will also process
the subject's vehicle for evidence.
The Cellular Analysis survey
team, what we refer to is Cast
conducted thorough
analysis of the subject's
cellular device locations.
The Cast analysis
aligns with witnesses
account of the subject's
presence at the scene,
both before
and around the time of the incident.
On September 15th.
More specifically,
we're continuing to conduct analysis
and will be compiling
the subject's movements
in the days
and months leading up to September 15th.
Cellular data shows that the subject
was in the vicinity of the golf
course, roughly 12 hours
before the engagement
with the United States secret Service.
Our investigative teams
conducted a neighborhood canvass
in an effort to collect and obtain
relevant video footage.
The subject
had an active
online presence,
and we are going through what he posted
and any searches he conducted online.
In addition, we're going through
media reports and public statements
he made that he wanted to recruit
Afghan soldiers
and others to fight for Ukraine.
The FBI has sent multiple requests
to companies
for returns on the subject's
phone and social media accounts.
We received several returns
and are waiting
on additional responses
from other companies as well.
Our investigative team
is completing analysis
of the returns
and actioning leads as needed,
and we anticipate continuing
until the FBI knows
the full totality of the subject's
social media presence
by way of his background.
In 2002, was the United States Attorney,
mentioned the subject, was charged
and convicted
in North Carolina for possession
of a weapon of mass destruction.
Law enforcement checks
also revealed that from 1997 to 2010,
the subject had numerous
felony charges for stolen goods.
I can also share with you
that he was the subject
of a previously closed
2019 tip to the FBI,
where it was alleged
he was a felon in possession of a firearm
and following up on the tip.
The alleged complaint interviewed,
was interviewed and did not verify
a repeat did not verify
providing the initial information.
The FBI passed that information
to local law enforcement in Honolulu
on behalf of the FBI.
I would like to thank the Palm
Beach County
Sheriff's Office
and Martin County Sheriff's Office
for their incredible work
and Actioning the witnesses
information and rapidly
apprehending the subject.
I would also like to thank
the United States Secret Service,
the United States Attorney's Office
for the Southern District of Florida,
the Department of Justice's
National Security Division,
the Bureau of Alcohol, tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives,
and our FBI field offices
in both Honolulu and Charlotte
who have been conducting
additional law enforcement activity
related to the subject.
Your continued partnerships
have been invaluable, but
oftentimes in law enforcement,
we tell citizens to be vigilant
and aware of their surroundings.
Yesterday, a citizen provided
remarkable assistance
which led to the arrest of this subject.
We appreciate the public's
diligence in passing potential tips
and information
regarding the subject
and this incident to the FBI.
If you have any information,
please call one 800, call FBI
or go online to Tips.
That's t I p s.fbi.gov.
The last thing I will tell you
is, like,
the director of a Secret service says,
you know, the president called me
last night. President Trump.
He thanked me for everything that we did,
along with the Secret Service.
He knows we work great together,
and he feels safe.
That's important because he is.
And what we did yesterday proves that
the system can work
because the
suspect
didn't even get close
to getting around off,
and we apprehended him
and brought him to justice.
So we're we're very, very proud of that.