FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A man charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump in South Florida last year was back in court this week, asking a federal judge to let him represent himself, as prosecutors tried to block him from introducing irrelevant evidence during trial.
Ryan Routh's court-appointed federal public defenders on Thursday asked to be taken off the case, saying he had refused repeated attempts to meet with their team.
Separately, prosecutors asked a judge ahead of the September trial to rule out the introduction of inadmissible evidence, such as Routh's previous writings, that may unfairly influence jurors. The judge said after hearing the arguments that she would issue her decision on a later date.
Here’s what to know about the case.
The judge lets Routh represent himself
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon signed off Thursday on Ryan Routh’s request to represent himself during his trial, but said court-appointed attorneys need to remain as standby counsel.
The judge told Routh she believes it's a bad idea for Routh to represent himself, but he wouldn’t be dissuaded. Routh, who has described the extent of his education as two years of college after earning his GED certificate, told Cannon that he understood the potential challenges and would be ready.
Routh had his first chance to represent himself in Cannon's courtroom on Friday, as she heard a motion from prosecutors to limit evidence of his writings that they say is unrelated to the charges — and that he hopes will swing jurors to his side.
“As the Court knows, Routh has been very explicit in his desire to turn this trial into a circus where his supposed good character is weighed against the President’s,” the prosecutors wrote.
Routh accuses prosecutors of unfair editing
The judge had warned Routh that she would not be able to give him legal advice from the bench, but she was patient with him as she clarified some of the prosecution's arguments and asked if he had any objections. Routh did object to the exclusion of what he described as evidence of his character, as well as writings that he said would provide context to other statements that prosecutors are using against him.
In one example, prosecutors are seeking to quote just the opening three lines from a multipage letter purportedly written by Routh, acknowledging that he was attempting to assassinate Trump. Prosecutors described the rest of the letter as a screed about Trump's moral failings that has no relevance to the charges.
But Routh compared prosecutors taking snippets of the letter to Trump's lawsuit claiming that CBS’ “60 Minutes” news program unfairly edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of his election.
“You can't edit things,” Routh said. “It just takes it out of context.”
Cannon had to remind Routh to stick to the subject at hand several times, but Routh didn't do anything to significantly delay the proceedings. At one point, he needed to confer with his former court-appointed attorneys about proposed stipulations — the facts that both sides agree can be presented as evidence.
Routh is a self-styled mercenary leader
The 59-year-old 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, North Carolina, he had a 2002 arrest 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-long 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 Routh either probation or a suspended sentence.
Routh is charged with attempted assassination
Authorities said Routh tried to assassinate Trump, who was running for his second term last September as the GOP presidential nominee, while he played golf at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Routh is facing five felony counts in federal court in Fort Pierce, Florida. They include attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate; possessing a firearm to carry out a violent crime; assaulting a federal officer; felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition; and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Same judge presided over Trump case
If the judge's name sounds familiar, it's because she presided over another high-profile case involving Trump — the classified documents case.
Last year, Cannon sided with Trump's lawyers who said the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed by the U.S. Justice Department. Cannon's ruling halted a criminal case that at the time it was filed was widely regarded as the most perilous of all the legal threats the president faced before he returned to office last January.
Cannon was a former federal prosecutor who was nominated to the bench by Trump in 2020.
Trump was not hurt by Routh
He was fine. U.S. Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Trump was playing golf noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away. An agent fired, and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera. He was later stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county.
Last September's assassination attempt took place just nine weeks after Trump survived another attempt on his life in Pennsylvania.
___
Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social
Mike Schneider And David Fischer, The Associated Press
