Ryan Routh, the second person suspected of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump, reportedly sought to use a human smuggler in Mexico to help him flee the country.
Headline USA’s Ken Silva reported on Tuesday that the Justice Department released a text message exchange between Routh and a man called “Ramiro.” One of the conversations involved Routh trying to get Ramiro to help an Afghan family seek asylum in the United States under former President Joe Biden.
The Justice Department has released text messages between Ryan Routh and an alleged human trafficker in Mexico about smuggling Afghans into the U.S. last year—arguing that such evidence should be presented to a jury as part of Routh’s larger plans to assassinate Donald Trump last September.
The DOJ included the text messages in a Monday court filing, responding to Routh’s motion to suppress evidence of his human smuggling activities. According to Routh’s attorneys, Routh’s discussions with a Mexican smuggler identified as “Ramiro” have nothing to do with the DOJ’s case against him. Those discussions occurred in February 2024, about seven months before his alleged attempt on Trump.
The DOJ said on Monday that the February 2024 text messages would provide crucial context for a jury about how Routh planned to flee the country if his attempt on Trump were successful.
“The February chats show that Routh intentionally sought out a professional smuggler who specialized in clandestine migrant crossings as part of his plan to flee the United States post-assassination,” DOJ lawyers argued. “The point here is that Ramiro is the human smuggler, and that Routh appealed to Ramiro in hatching his (Routh’s) escape plan. The February and September communications should, therefore, be admitted in their entirety as direct evidence of the Defendant’s guilt.”
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🚨NEW: Last night, the DOJ released texts between Ryan Routh and the Mexican human smuggler about smuggling Afghans into the U.S.
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) April 29, 2025
These texts show that the smuggler was going to drop the Afghans off at the border and have them apply for asylum. They even discussed the possibility… https://t.co/NsTcf8uzWJ pic.twitter.com/eoqsquchgs
Silva reported that the two men failed to come to an agreement on smuggling the family into the US after Routh balked at the price Ramiro had set.
However, the deal seems to have fallen apart when Ramiro asked for $1,800 a person to take the Afghans to the border.
“That is 9000 dollar dude, that is crazy,” Routh texted on Feb. 29, 2024.
According to the DOJ, Routh and Ramiro didn’t text again until last September, when Routh was getting ready to assassinate Trump.
🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) April 29, 2025
Alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh was speaking with a human trafficker on the WhatsUp App about smuggling illegal aliens from Afghanistan.
According to the DOJ, Routh was also speaking with the trafficker about his plans to flee the U.S. after his… pic.twitter.com/je5lteYi2p
The authorities apprehended Routh after he waited for hours at a golf course where President Trump was playing golf. He hid in the bushes with a rifle, appearing to wait until the president came into range. However, Secret Service agents spotted him and opened fire.
Routh fled the scene, but law enforcement caught him shortly after.
Since then, more information has emerged about the would-be assassin. He attempted to procure a rocket launcher from someone he believed to be a Ukrainian national. His trial is set to take place in September.
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