Almost a year since he allegedly perched a rifle through the chain-link fence of a golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, the 59-year-old man accused of creating a “sniper’s nest” one hole away from where Donald Trump was playing golf will now stand trial.
Ryan Routh has chosen to represent himself in the trial, which will feature evidence from prosecutors that includes eyewitness testimony of Routh allegedly fleeing the scene, statements from the people who say they sold him the rifle, and a letter allegedly from Routh confessing: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump.”
Jury selection will begin Monday in a federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, and is being handled by Judge Aileen Cannon, the same judge who dismissed the classified documents case against Trump in 2024 — a case she faced heavy criticism for over the slow pace and detailed, in-person hearings she held for nearly each motion filed.
Routh faces five charges, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Often when individuals, especially those who commit crimes against high-profile targets, want to represent themselves, the focus becomes more about getting their message out than mounting a serious defense, Brian Donavant, the chair of criminal justice, social work and sociology at Southeast Missouri State University, told CNN.
“They want to use that as a platform,” Donavant said of such defendants, “to get that message out.”
“We can’t really predict how he is going to proceed with the trial,” Paul Lucas, associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at East Carolina University, told CNN.
“But we’ve seen in the past with some high-profile pro se defendants, they use the trial as a platform and not so much as formulating a defensive strategy,” he said, using the term for those who represent themselves without an attorney.
If convicted, Routh faces life in prison.
Routh against the federal government
Choosing to represent himself in the case has already culminated in Routh, through public court filings, challenging Trump to “a beatdown session” or a round of golf, adding that if “he wins he can execute me, I win I get his job.”
Routh has made clear his disdain for Trump in recent court filings, referring to the president as “a racist pig” and sarcastically as “the victim, poor pitiful Trump.”
Routh suggested that part of his defense will be around his record of peacefulness — supported, in his telling, by the many witnesses he wants to testify, including old co-workers, managers and his son.
“Character is the whole of this entire case — there is nothing else,” Routh wrote in one filing.
Donavant told CNN that “it’s just not really a good idea to represent yourself at trial — even if you are a seasoned attorney,” noting that Routh likely won’t be familiar with basic legal and court procedures. A public defender will be available as a standby counsel.
In his anticipation for Monday, Routh asked the court for a phone, a “fancy typewriter” and other items to prepare for trial.
“Some female strippers would be great too,” he added.
Minutes away
In August 2024, Routh drove from North Carolina to West Palm Beach, and over the next month travelled multiple times to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and the nearby golf course, prosecutors say, citing cell phone data.
Then, in the early hours of September 15, Routh’s cell phone data pinned him on the border of the golf club, where he waited for nearly 12 hours, prosecutors allege.
Later that day, as Trump and his now-foreign envoy Steve Witkoff were playing the fifth hole of the course, a Secret Service agent scouted out the hole ahead. It was then he saw the partially obscured face of a man and the barrel of a rifle sticking through the fence line aimed directly at the agent, court documents say.
The agent fired several shots from his service weapon before retreating behind a tree to radio in the threat. That’s when prosecutors say Routh was seen by a citizen fleeing to a nearby car. The citizen took pictures of the vehicle and shared them with law enforcement officials.
The car was stopped by county officers nearly 45 minutes later on a sprawling Florida highway, and Routh, who was driving the car, was arrested.
Investigators say they found bags filled with armored plates able to withstand pistol fire hung in front of the sniper’s perch on the fence line, along with a digital camera, some food, and the SKS rifle, loaded with 11 bullets and one round resting in the chamber, ready to fire.
At the time Routh was discovered, Trump was roughly 15 minutes from arriving at the sixth hole, just 100 feet from the rifleman’s perch.
Intent and a letter to the world
Much of Routh’s defense centers on “intent, intent, intent,” as he writes in recent filings.
One example of the “intent” Routh highlights is what he frames as his unblemished record of never slighting another person and of advocating for peace.
“All of my exhibits speak only to peacefulness, Non-violence and gentleness as a pertinent trait and should be admitted,” he recently wrote to the judge.
Routh says the “Dear World” letter in which he allegedly confessed to attempting to kill Trump speaks of peace and bringing nations and people together under the umbrella of humanity in later pages.
“I am so sorry I failed you,” the first page says of an “assassination attempt” on Trump. “I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”
Investigators say Routh’s alleged letter, addressed to “The World,” was turned over to them by a man who said Routh had dropped off a box at his home months earlier and, after learning of the alleged assassination attempt, opened the box.
It contained “ammunition, a metal pipe, miscellaneous building materials, tools, four phones, and various letters,” court filings say.
“None of the letters have any usefulness now — the world is totally f**ked,” Routh wrote in a recent filing asking for more of the letter to be admitted showing the parts where it discusses peace.
The gun
The old Soviet-style, Chinese-made rifle investigators say they found on the golf course fence line was illegally sold to Routh — a convicted felon — just before he left North Carolina for West Palm Beach, according to court records.
North Carolina’s Tina Cooper and Ronnie Oxendine pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges around selling the rifle to Routh, who they both knew through past roofing work in the 1990s.
According to Cooper’s plea, she told Oxendine, her boss, that Routh was coming to town on July 28 and asked later whether he had an AK-47 for sale. Cooper arranged a meeting with the three of them, and Routh paid Oxendine $350 in cash for the rifle and gave Cooper $100 for setting up the sale.
During trial, Routh says he intends to call one expert witness with firearm experience to discuss the position of the alleged sniper’s nest and the functionality of the gun itself.
The witness, a former Marine sniper, was allowed to fire the rifle investigators found on the fence line but was able to get off only one shot before the rifle jammed.
Prosecutors say law enforcement officials fired the gun successfully for multiple rounds without it jamming and noted that the individual tested the firearm eight months later and after the weapon had undergone some chemical testing.
Mental state
In recent filings after taking the case over himself, Routh has pushed to include testimony from doctors who psychologically evaluated him following his arrest.
Cannon, however, denied Routh’s request for their testimony, noting that Routh has already stated he would not make a defense argument around his mental health, had no legal basis and that his request was far too late.
According to Cannon, Routh had mentioned in an August pretrial hearing that he wanted to highlight the narcissism trait identified by the professionals.
One doctor found that Routh met the criteria for “a narcissistic personality disorder,” and the other determined that Routh has “mixed personality features including schizotypal, narcissistic, and antisocial features.”
Cannon also pointed out in her decision denying their testimony that both doctors determined Routh did not qualify for an insanity defense and was competent to stand trial.
The public defenders who were previously assigned to Routh’s case before he stopped engaging with them this summer have been ordered by Cannon to be Routh’s standby counsel in the case.
As standby counsel, the attorneys will be available to advise Routh as he requests. Depending on how the case proceeds, Cannon could expand that advisory role if Routh’s self representation causes issues in the trial.
“A federal judge can and will take away the right to self-representation if the defendant is not competent,” associate professor Lucas said. “This is difficult for any judge to balance, but if she feels that the trial is continually being derailed, he’s abusing the right, he is saying things in open court that he is not allowed to be saying — she can certainly remove that right to self-representation.”
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