FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A man representing himself in federal court against charges of trying to assassinate Donald Trump last year at his Florida golf course told jurors during his closing argument on Tuesday that he didn't intend to kill anyone that day.
“It’s hard for me to believe that a crime occurred if the trigger was never pulled," Ryan Routh said. He pointed out that he could see Trump as he was on the path toward the sixth hole green at the golf course. And he noted that he could have also
shot the Secret Service agent who confronted him if he had intended to harm anyone.
Routh took 55 minutes of his allotted one hour and 45 minutes, while prosecutors took almost all of their time in closing remarks to the jury, which then received the case for deliberations.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had warned Routh not to go off track in making his closing remarks. She sent the jury out of the courtroom twice Tuesday morning to remind him of her warning.
Prosecutors have said Routh spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through shrubbery as the Republican played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club.
“There’s no doubt, no reasonable doubt, no doubt whatsoever,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Browne told the jury Tuesday.
Routh, 59, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations.
During the final minutes of court Monday, Cannon reminded Routh that closing arguments must be tied to evidence and testimony presented during trial. She warned him that failing to follow those restrictions could lead to him losing his closing argument time.
Routh exercised his constitutional right not to testify in his own defense, and Cannon said Routh can't use his closing argument as a chance to testify without the potential for cross examination.
“This can't be your opportunity to provide pseudo-testimony outside the context of sworn testimony,” Cannon said.
Routh said he understood, but he also claimed to understand nearly two weeks ago when Cannon gave him similar instructions for his opening statement. Cannon cut him off after less than 10 minutes, explaining that he forfeited his right to continue when he ignored her warnings and veered off topic to talk about Adolf Hitler and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Routh rested his case Monday morning after questioning just three witnesses — a firearms expert and two character witnesses — for a total of about three hours. In contrast, prosecutors spent seven days questioning 38 witnesses.
Cannon signed off on Routh’s request to represent himself following two hearings in July. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that criminal defendants have a right to represent themselves in court proceedings, as long as they can show a judge they are competent to waive their right to be defended by an attorney. Routh's former defense attorneys have served as standby counsel since Routh took over his own defense and have been present during trial the past two weeks.
Recounting what happened at the golf course, a Secret Service agent testified earlier in the trial that he spotted Routh before Trump came into view. Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot, the agent said.
Law enforcement obtained help from a witness who testified that he saw a person fleeing the area after hearing gunshots. The witness was then flown in a police helicopter to a nearby interstate where Routh was arrested, and the witness said he confirmed it was the person he had seen.
Just nine weeks earlier, Trump had survived an attempt on his life while campaigning in Butler, Pennsylvania. That gunman had fired eight shots, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear. The gunman was then fatally shot by a Secret Service counter sniper.
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 Russia's war in Ukraine, Routh tried to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to fight the Russians. In his native Greensboro, North Carolina, 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 (25-centimeter) fuse, police said.
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 Routh either probation or a suspended sentence.
Besides the federal charges, Routh also has pleaded not guilty to state charges of terrorism and attempted murder.
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