Accused shooter pleads not guilty to trying to kill Trump on golf course

On By Rgal Nv

Ryan Wesley Routh, a convicted felon who authorities say traveled from North Carolina to Florida with a plan to kill Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of attempting to assassinate the former president while He was playing golf in mid-September at his club in West Palm. Beach.

Routh, 58, is accused of setting up a “sniper nest” in the bushes surrounding the golf course after traveling with a semi-automatic rifle in mid-August to carry out the attempted execution of the former president at Trump International Golf Club on September 15. , according to federal court records.

The suspect fled the scene when a Secret Service agent shot him after spotting his rifle go through a fence, but he left the gun behind with his fingerprints on the electrical tape attached to a glasses, according to the FBI. Thanks to information from an eyewitness, Routh was later arrested after being stopped while driving north on Interstate 95.

Routh, who was taken into custody by a magistrate judge in West Palm Beach federal court on September 23, was arraigned on several charges in an indictment filed the next day by a federal grand jury from Miami. The indictment charges Routh with attempted murder of a major presidential candidate, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assault on a federal officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. .

Routh pleaded not guilty Monday before Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart. The magistrate judge read the five counts in the indictment and asked Routh if he understood them.

“Yes, Your Honor,” said Routh, who wore a khaki inmate uniform with his wrists and ankles handcuffed.

His assistant federal public defender, Kristy Militello, pleaded not guilty and requested a jury trial, which was granted. Now, Assistant United States Attorney Mark Dispoto will begin providing evidence to the defense. No trial date has been set. Under the federal speedy trial law, Routh could be tried within 70 days of his indictment – ​​but that is unlikely.

If convicted of attempted murder, Routh, a former North Carolina resident who lived in Hawaii and worked in construction before the incident, faces life in prison. He is being held at the Miami Federal Detention Center while awaiting trial.

“Violence targeting public officials endangers everything our country stands for, and the Department of Justice will use every tool available to hold Ryan Routh accountable for the attempted assassination of former President Trump charged in the act indictment,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement. press release published last Tuesday.

Routh was initially arrested for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and for carrying a weapon with an obliterated serial number. Trump, who will face Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential election, issued a statement last Monday questioning the seriousness of these initial accusations.

Routh’s case was randomly assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee to the federal bench. Cannon, who is based at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, recently dismissed the classified U.S. government documents case against the former president, saying the special prosecutor who filed it was not legally appointed. The Justice Department is appealing its decision.

According to court records, when Routh fled the perimeter of the golf club after the Secret Service agent shot him, a witness saw the suspect run across the road from the golf course and get into a Nissan Xterra black. The witness reported the information to law enforcement, and Routh was subsequently arrested while heading north on I-95.

According to a criminal complaint and an FBI affidavit, FBI agents found an SKS semi-automatic rifle with an attached scope and extended magazine where Routh had been hiding near a fence on the perimeter of the golf course. The rifle’s serial number was erased and illegible. Hanging from the fence was a backpack and a reusable shopping bag — each containing a tag capable of stopping small arms fire, prosecutors say.

FBI agents then found Routh’s documents containing a handwritten list of August, September and October dates and locations where the former president had appeared or was expected to attend. Records from two of the cell phones found in the Nissan of the former president at Mar-a-Lago.

According to prosecutors, a civilian witness in North Carolina contacted law enforcement stating that Routh had dropped off a box at his residence several months ago. The box included a handwritten letter from Routh addressed to “Dear World,” which stated, among other things: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I’m so sorry for letting you down. »

According to court records, Routh was convicted of crimes in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010. The FBI is investigating the case, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and explosives and secret services.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.