On Monday, the Florida man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in court.
Ryan Routh, 58, appeared in federal court Monday to enter five not guilty pleas to counts including attempted assassination of a major political candidate and assault of a federal officer, after he allegedly poked a rifle through the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course, prompting a Secret Service agent to fire.
Routh also pleaded not guilty to charges he possessed a firearm with an obliterated serial number despite being a convicted felon, in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Prosecutors say Routh planned to kill Trump as he golfed on Sept. 15, staking out the perimeter of the course near its sixth hole for roughly 12 hours until he was noticed and fled. They revealed last week that Routh allegedly wrote a letter months before the assassination attempt detailing his plans.
“Dear world, this was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you,” Routh wrote, according to the letter filed by prosecutors. “I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster.”
Routh has been in custody since the incident and faces up to life in prison.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
Why is a ‘not guilty’ plea “unexpected”? In Arizona, most judges at initial appearances or arraignments (usually before defense counsel is obtained) automatically enter a ‘not guilty’ plea on the defendant’s behalf, in order to preserve the defendant’s right to contest the charges. Later on, its a lot easier to change a ‘not guilty’ plea to ‘guilty’ (usually as a result of a plea bargain) than vice versa. In this case the federal charges should include terrorism, as the attempted murder was politically motivated, but considering that the DOJ is also prosecuting Trump, I’m glad Gov. DeSantis is asserting Florida’s right to prosecute him on state charges.
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