Ryan Wesley Routh appeared briefly in West Palm Beach federal court, days after a grand jury handed down a five-count indictment stemming from the second attempted assassination of Donald Trump this month of July.
Mr. Routh entered the courtroom handcuffed, wearing a tan jumpsuit, and waved to reporters gathered to watch the hearing. His lawyers declined to comment after the hearing.
The assassination attempt was foiled when a Secret Service detailer spotted the barrel of Mr. Routh’s rifle protruding from the golf course fence in front of where Mr. Trump was playing, according to the authorities. The officer fired in the direction of Routh, who fled and was arrested in a neighboring county.
Routh did not fire any bullets and did not have Trump in his line of sight, authorities said. He left behind a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS rifle with a scope and a plastic bag containing food.
Prosecutors said he outlined plans to kill Mr. Trump in a handwritten note several months before his September 15 arrest, in which he called his action a failed “attempt to assassinate Donald Trump” and offered $150,000 to anyone who could “finish the job.” This note was in a box that Mr. Routh had apparently left at the home of an unidentified witness a few months before his arrest.
Monday’s hearing took place before an investigating judge. The rest of the proceedings will be overseen by District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Mr. Trump and who also handled the criminal case accusing the former president of illegally hoarding classified documents on his property from Mar-a-Lago.
Ms. Cannon has faced intense scrutiny for her handling of Mr. Trump’s criminal case, which she dismissed in July, a move special counsel Jack Smith’s team is now reviewing. call.
Mr. Routh’s arrest came two months after Mr. Trump was shot in the ear during an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service admitted it made mistakes before the shooting, but said security performed as it should to thwart a potential attack in Florida.
Initially, Mr. Routh was charged in a criminal complaint only with firearms offenses, before prosecutors pursued additional charges before a grand jury. Often, prosecutors quickly bring the first easily provable charges they can, then add more serious charges as the investigation progresses.
Other charges against him include illegally possessing his firearm despite multiple misdemeanor convictions, including two charges of possession of stolen property in 2002 in North Carolina. He is also accused of possessing a weapon with an obliterated serial number that is illegible to the naked eye, in violation of federal law.
