Opening statements are set to start Thursday within the felony trial of Ryan Routh, the person accused of making an attempt to assassinate Donald Trump on his golf course final yr.
With cases of political violence on the rise, the trial is predicted to revisit some of the high-profile cases of alleged violence directed at Trump within the waning days of the 2024 election.
Prosecutors allege that Routh put collectively a methodical plan — together with buying a military-grade weapon, researching Trump’s actions, and using a dozen burner telephones — to kill Trump based mostly on political grievances.
Hiding within the bushes of Trump’s Palm Seashore golf course and armed with a rifle, Routh allegedly got here inside a few hundred yards of the then-presidential nominee earlier than a Secret Service agent noticed his rifle poking out of the tree line.
Routh allegedly fled the scene however was later arrested by a neighborhood sheriff’s workplace on a close-by interstate.
Almost a yr after the failed assassination try, Routh now faces 5 felony counts that threat sending him to jail for the remainder of his life. Regardless of missing any authorized training or expertise, Routh dismissed his attorneys earlier this yr and intends to defend himself at trial.
“I shall be representing myself shifting ahead; It was ridiculous from the outset to think about a random stranger that is aware of nothing of who I’m to talk for me,” Routh advised U.S. District Decide Aileen Cannon in a July letter. “I’m so sorry, I do know this makes your life tougher.”
FILE – On this imaged launched by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff’s Workplace, legislation enforcement officers arrest Ryan Routh, the person suspected within the obvious assassination try of Donald Trump, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff’s Workplace by way of AP, File)
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Routh’s self-representation created some issues through the three days of jury choice earlier this week. Decide Cannon — who beforehand oversaw and dismissed one in all Trump’s criminal cases — refused to make use of a lot of his proposed jury questions, deeming them too “political.”
Amongst different topics, Routh had proposed asking jurors about their stance on Palestine and Ukraine, and about Trump’s proposed acquisition of Greenland.
Routh has stated in court docket filings that he plans to defend himself by specializing in his self-described peaceable nature and his take care of humanity, partly by calling to the stand his son and a number of associates to testify about his character.
Decide Cannon has barred him from making an attempt to argue that his alleged actions have been justified, that he didn’t intend to hold out the assassination, or that his actions have been protected by First Modification rights.
