Ryan Routh pleads not guilty in alleged Trump assassination attempt

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — Ryan Routh, the man charged with an attempted assassination against former President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty in federal court on Monday.

The arraignment in West Palm Beach lasted just three minutes as Routh’s attorney, Kristy Militello, entered the plea on his behalf to all five counts against him. She waived the reading of the charges and said the defense wanted a trial.

Routh, 58, wearing a brown jail uniform, looked directly at reporters as he entered and exited the courtroom. His attorneys spoke with him when he sat down ahead of advancing to the lectern, handing him what appeared to be a business card that he put into his breast pocket. He also laughed at something they said and took out his dark-rimmed glasses to read something they showed him on a cell phone.

On Sept. 24, a grand jury in Miami returned a five-count indictment against Routh. The indictment charges Routh with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime and assault on a federal officer, as well as being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Routh said, “Yes, your honor” on Monday when U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart asked him whether he understood the charges against him.

Should he be found guilty, the assassination attempt statute carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Trump was golfing on Sept. 15 when, according to authorities, a Secret Service agent spotted Routh with a semi-automatic rifle behind a chain-linked fence and shot in his direction. Law enforcement said Routh was unable to get a shot off, and he tried to flee the scene but was later arrested.

Routh left a box with a note in it to an unnamed associate several months ago urging others to “finish the job” of trying to kill Trump if he failed and offering $150,000 to anyone who was successful, according to court filings.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe on Sept. 23 granted prosecutors’ motion to keep Routh in detention rather than release him on $250,000 bond into the custody of his sister, as lawyers for Routh sought. McCabe made the call even though Routh hadn’t yet been charged with an assassination attempt, though prosecutors indicated during the hearing that the supplemental charges were in the works.

During the detention hearing, Routh’s attorneys said that other parts of the letter their client had sent indicated he’d always planned to fail in the attempt and they downplayed his actions as “an attempt at publicity.”

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon will be overseeing the deliberations for the case and any eventual trial. Cannon, a Trump appointee, was randomly assigned from a small group of federal judges in South Florida to handle the case. In July, she dismissed the classified documents case against Trump , concluding that the special counsel overseeing it had been illegally appointed by the Justice Department. That ruling is under appeal.

Leonard reported from West Palm Beach. Gerstein reported from Washington.