Trial begins for man charged with attempting to assassinate Trump

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Ryan Routh goes on trial here Monday for attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last year when he was running for president.

Routh is charged with attempting to assassinate a presidential candidate and four other counts, including federal weapons violations. A conviction on the attempted assassination charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Routh, 59, has been in custody since September of last year. A Secret Service agent, who was part of Trump’s security detail, says he saw a gun barrel poking from the tree line a few holes ahead of where the then-Republican presidential candidate was golfing at his West Palm Beach club. The agent said he fired at the person holding the gun. A man later identified as Routh fled the scene and was arrested a short time later driving north on Interstate 95. 

Routh already had a criminal record, including a 2002 conviction in North Carolina for possessing an explosive device. He spent much of his life in North Carolina before moving to Hawaii. He was a strong supporter of Ukraine following the invasion by Russian troops. He has said he backed Trump for president in 2016 and regrets that decision.

After his indictment, Routh’s case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. It once again places her courtroom at the center of a case drawing national attention. Trump appointed Cannon to the federal bench in 2020, and she presided over his criminal trial on charges that he mishandled classified and top-secret documents. She dismissed the charges against Trump, ruling that the appointment of a Special Counsel to prosecute the former president was unconstitutional.

In pre-trial hearings, Routh told Judge Cannon he was dissatisfied with his attorneys, federal public defenders who had been assigned to represent him. In a letter to the judge, he said, “they were a million miles apart” and were refusing to answer his questions. Cannon agreed Routh could represent himself, but denied a request from his public defenders to be released from the trial. Instead, the judge ordered that they serve as “standby counsel,” helping Routh with court filings and other legal assistance when requested.

A series of court filings by Routh last week is already testing his relationship with Judge Cannon.

The judge deferred his request to submit as evidence the full text of a 12-page letter he left with a friend. Prosecutors plan to show just the first page to the jury, in which he writes, “Dear World, This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you.” In his motion, Routh writes that in the letter, “every line is about gentleness, peacefulness, and non-violent caring for humanity…There is no mention at all of the victim, poor pitiful Trump.” Judge Cannon said she’ll wait until the trial to rule on his request.

In another motion, Routh told the judge, “If you would like to trade admitting the evidence for my subpoena of that baboon Donald J Trump, bring that idiot on; it is a deal…I think a beatdown session would be more fun and entertaining for everyone.” In her order, Judge Cannon criticizes Routh for offering “various insults and no pertinent facts.” She writes, “as much as the Defendant may want this official proceeding to devolve into a ‘beatdown session’ with one of the alleged victims in this case,” she said she won’t subpoena President Trump.

A key piece of evidence at the trial will be the SKS-style rifle left behind in what prosecutors describe as a “sniper’s nest” near the golf course in West Palm Beach. It hadn’t been fired and had a scope attached to it in a makeshift manner using electrical tape. Before they were dismissed, Routh’s lawyers were planning to question how well or whether it would have worked if fired at Trump that day. It’s not clear how Routh will proceed now that he’s directing his defense, but he’s expected to call as one of his witnesses a former Marine sniper instructor. 

Prosecutors say there’s no question that the gun worked. They say an FBI weapons expert test-fired the gun when it was seized and processed as evidence. And they say the question of how well it worked is not relevant to the case. More importantly, they say, is Routh’s alleged intent to attempt to kill then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump. If there was poor planning, problems with the gun, or other things that prevented the attack from happening, they say it can’t be used as a defense.

Routh’s trial begins Monday with jury selection. Opening statements are scheduled for Thursday.