Trial of man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump while he played golf in Florida begins
Ryan Routh was arrested last September, with jury selection in the four-week trial set to begin Monday
Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the trial of a man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump while he played golf last year in South Florida.
Ryan Routh, 59, is accused of attempting to shoot dead the then-Republican presidential candidate at his West Palm Beach country club on September 15 2024.
The defendant was allegedly spotted concealed in shrubbery as the future president approached by members of his Secret Service detail, who opened fire, causing the would-be gunman to drop his AK-47 and flee without firing a shot.
He was subsequently apprehended on a nearby highway after a witness tipped off law enforcement that they had seen a person fleeing the scene.
Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations. The court has blocked off four weeks for the trial but attorneys expect they will need less time.
Jury selection is expected to take three days, with attorneys questioning three sets of 60 prospective jurors. They are trying to find 12 jurors and four alternates. Opening statements are then scheduled to begin on Thursday, with prosecutors launching their case immediately after that.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw the aborted classified documents case against Trump last year, signed off in July on Routh’s request to represent himself but said court-appointed attorneys need to remain as standby counsel.
Cannon confirmed during a hearing last week that Routh would be dressed in professional business attire for the trial. She also explained to the defendant that he would be allowed to use a podium while speaking to the jury or questioning witnesses but he would not have free rein of the courtroom.
The judge last week unsealed the prosecutor's 33-page list of exhibits that could be introduced as evidence at the trial. It says prosecutors have photos of Routh holding the same model of semi-automatic rifle found at Trump's club.
Routh was a North Carolina construction worker who in recent years had moved to Hawaii. A self-styled mercenary leader, Routh spoke out to anyone who would listen about his dangerous, sometimes violent plans to insert himself into conflicts around the world, witnesses have told the Associated Press.
In the early days of the war in Ukraine, Routh tried to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to fight the Russians. In his native Greensboro, he was arrested in 2002 for eluding a traffic stop and barricading himself from officers with a fully automatic machine gun and a “weapon of mass destruction,” which turned out to be an explosive with a 10-inch fuse.
In 2010, police searched a warehouse Routh owned and found more than 100 stolen items, from power tools and building supplies to kayaks and spa tubs. In both felony cases, judges gave him either probation or a suspended sentence.
In addition to the federal charges he faces, Routh also has pleaded not guilty to state charges of terrorism and attempted murder.
Just nine weeks prior to the incident at Trump’s golf course, the candidate had survived another attempt on his life while campaigning in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The gunman in that attack, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, had fired eight shots, one of which grazed Trump's ear, before he was shot dead by a Secret Service counter-sniper.