FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course last year informed a federal judge on Friday that prosecutors have not proven an assassination attempt occurred. However, the judge denied his motion for acquittal, which means the jury will ultimately determine his fate.
Prosecutors ended their case against Ryan Routh on Friday afternoon after calling 38 witnesses over seven days. Once the jurors were excused for the weekend, Routh, who is acting as his own lawyer, submitted a motion for acquittal to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon concerning four of the five charges against him, aside from the charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors allege that Routh spent weeks planning to kill Trump and at one point aimed a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump was golfing on September 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club.
Routh has entered not guilty pleas for charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and several firearm violations.
Routh argued Friday afternoon that prosecutors haven’t proven any attempt to assassinate Trump.
“They maybe proved that someone was outside the (golf course) fence with a gun, but the gun was never fired,” Routh said.
Routh argued that the area outside the Trump International Golf Club was a public right of way for a public road, allowing anyone to be there with a weapon.
Prosecutors countered that Routh took multiple significant actions in his effort to kill Trump, such as pointing a loaded gun with its safety off through the fence.
“This is as far from peaceful assembly as you can get,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley said.
Cannon denied Routh’s motion, explaining that a juror could reasonably find that prosecutors had met their burden of proof. That means the next step is for the defense to begin its case Monday morning. Routh has indicated he plans to call three witnesses: a firearms expert and two character witnesses. He hasn’t said whether he plans to testify himself. He told the judge Friday that his case should take about half a day.
Cannon said attorneys should be prepared to deliver their closing arguments on Tuesday, giving each side one hour and 45 minutes. Jurors will begin deliberating after that. Cannon had initially blocked off more than three weeks for the trial at the Fort Pierce federal courthouse, but Routh’s relatively short cross examinations have led to a quicker pace than anticipated.
The prosecution’s final witness spent about six hours over Thursday and Friday tying together about a week’s worth of testimony. FBI Supervisory Special Agent Kimberly McGreevy used cellphone records, location data, text messages, bank records, internet searches, security video and various store receipts to illustrate Routh’s actions and movements over the month prior to the attempted attack and to show that he began trying to acquire a gun, despite being a convicted felon, nearly six months before his arrest.
Evidence showed that Routh traveled to South Florida about a month before the assassination attempt, McGreevy said. He lived out of a black Nissan Xterra, normally parked at a western Palm Beach County truck stop, while routinely traveling to the areas around Palm Beach International Airport, Trump International Golf Course and Trump’s primary residence at Mar-a-Lago, the agent said.
“He was living at that truck stop and conducting physical and electronic surveillance and stalking the president, then-former President Trump,” McGreevy said.
Recounting the alleged attack at the golf course, a Secret Service agent testified last week 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 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.
