Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good morning. Thank you, Adair, for that warm welcome.

Before we get started, I want to address a major development that took place late yesterday.

The Justice Department secured a federal indictment of Ryan Routh, charging him with attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump.

These new charges returned by the grand jury build on the firearms felony charges we filed last week, which permitted the defendant’s arrest and detention as our investigation continued.

Immediately after the assassination attempt on September 15th, I made clear that the Justice Department would bring every available resource to bear in this investigation.

Over the last 11 days, the Department has done just that.

As alleged in the indictment, and as reflected in court documents filed in this case, evidence uncovered in the investigation sheds new light on the defendant’s actions in the days leading up to this crime, and supports the charge of attempted assassination. This evidence includes:

A handwritten list seized from the defendant’s car cataloging the dates and venues of the former President’s past and expected appearances.

A box the defendant left with a witness several months ago, which contained a handwritten letter addressed to “the World,” stating: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you.”

And cell site records indicating that on multiple days and times in the weeks leading up to the assassination attempt, the defendant was repeatedly in the immediate vicinity of the Trump International Golf Club and the former President’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.

This investigation is still in its early stages and remains active and ongoing. And as in all cases, the allegations we make in our filings are just that until we prove them in court beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Justice Department is committed to using the full force of our authorities to thoroughly investigate every lead and ensure accountability in this matter.

Our nation has now experienced two assassination attempts against the former President in just the last three months. That is abhorrent.

Violence and threats of violence targeting public officials are dangerous to their safety, the safety of their families, and the safety of the people who protect them. They are dangerous to everything this country stands for.

The Justice Department will not tolerate violence that strikes at the heart of our democracy. And we will find and hold accountable those who perpetrate it.

This must stop.

Now, I want to turn to the topic of today’s meeting, the work of this office and its law enforcement partners.

In just a few moments, U.S. Attorney Boroughs and I will meet with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners about our work to keep communities across South Carolina safe.

I am grateful to have the chance to thank our partners today, in person, for the difficult and often dangerous work they do to protect communities here in Columbia and across the state.

I am also grateful to have the chance to recognize the public servants of this Office for their extraordinary work.

This U.S. Attorney’s Office is the face of the Justice Department here in South Carolina. When people across the state look to see what the Department stands for, they look to this U.S. Attorney’s Office. I have been consistently impressed not only with the work you do, but with the way you do that work.

That work, together with the work of our state and local law enforcement partners, is making a difference.

Three-and-a-half years ago, the Justice Department launched an ambitious strategy to combat violent crime. That strategy is rooted in exactly the kinds of partnerships that are represented in this room. Today, we are seeing results.

According to the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, South Carolina’s violent crime rate decreased by 5.8% from 2022 to 2023, making 2023 the third consecutive year of decline. That included a 5.9% decrease in the murder rate.

We have also seen encouraging trends on the national level. Just earlier this week, the FBI released a report indicating we saw an 11.6% drop in homicides last year and one of the lowest violent crime rates in 50 years.

And recent data indicates this trend is continuing.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department’s Violent Crime Reduction Steering Committee announced new data from across 88 cities, which indicates that violent crime has continued to decline considerably in 2024. That included a further 16.9% drop in murders.

But we know that progress in many communities is still uneven. And, of course, there is no acceptable level of violent crime.

That is why the Justice Department is continuing to work with our partners here in South Carolina and across the country to combat violent crime, drug and gun trafficking, and gang violence.

For example, on a single day earlier this month, this office announced three significant developments in our work to combat drug trafficking and the fentanyl crisis.

First – in partnership with ATF, Homeland Security, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and local law enforcement in Cherokee, Spartanburg, and Greenville counties – the office secured guilty pleas from six members of a methamphetamine trafficking ring responsible for distributing at least 250 kilograms of meth in the Upstate.

Second – together with ATF, DEA, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department – the office secured 10-year and seven-year prison sentences, respectively, for two individuals on fentanyl and gun charges.

Third, together with DEA and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, this Office secured a 10-year prison sentence for a man who provided a syringe loaded with drugs, including fentanyl, to a victim who later died of fentanyl poisoning.

And, just last month, the office worked with federal law enforcement partners – as well as law enforcement in Spartanburg, Greenville, and Anderson counties – to secure a 23-year prison sentence for a cocaine and meth dealer.

The dealer also conscripted others to buy guns for him so that he could modify them into fully automatic weapons. He sold some of the machine guns, and he kept at least one of them with him during his drug deals.

And this spring, this office – in partnership with federal law enforcement, the Duncan Police Department, and several Canadian law enforcement agencies – secured sentences for three international gun traffickers. As part of that scheme, two of the defendants recruited straw purchasers to buy  guns on their behalf and then smuggled them to Canada.

Finally, earlier this year, this office announced the results of a months-long investigation conducted in partnership with 19 federal, state, and local public safety agencies. That investigation resulted in charges against 13 defendants and the seizure of multiple firearms, ammunition, and drugs, including fentanyl.

That investigation came after the FBI identified communities in Myrtle Beach that were experiencing high levels of gang and narcotics-related violence; in response, federal, state, and local law enforcement concentrated resources and personnel in those areas.

In addition to using our investigative and prosecutorial resources to protect communities here in South Carolina, we are also committed to using our grantmaking capabilities to invest in public safety.

For example, today, the Department is awarding $3 million in funding through the National Criminal History Improvement Program, which provides funding to states and localities to improve the quality, timeliness, and immediate accessibility of criminal history records and related information.

This grant is part of the more than $36 million that the Department is awarding to organizations and government agencies in South Carolina this month to support law enforcement activities and community initiatives.

These funds will, among other things, help law enforcement agencies in South Carolina hire more officers, prevent and combat violent crime and drug trafficking, and improve services for survivors of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other crimes.

We remain committed to providing our law enforcement and community partners with the resources they need to protect people across this state.

The examples I have shared today are just a snapshot of the work this office is doing every day to protect people in this state, and to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission to keep our country safe, to protect civil rights, and to uphold the rule of law.

I am very proud of the public servants who make up this office.  And I am equally proud of the relationships they have nurtured with the people and agencies around this table. They are the Justice Department’s indispensable partners.

I look forward to our meeting.

Thank you.