WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — As jury selection got underway Monday, documents newly obtained by Local 10 News give an indication of the evidence prosecutors plan to present at trial.
Ryan Routh, 59, is the man investigators say the Secret Service stopped from trying to assassinate President Donald Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach one year ago this month.
Routh, a construction worker with a prior criminal record, has chosen to represent himself in federal court, telling U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in a June filing that he was “a million miles apart” from his court-assigned attorneys, adding, “It was ridiculous from the outset to consider a random stranger that knows nothing of who I am to speak for me. That was foolish and ignorant, and I am sorry—a childish mistake….best I walk alone.”
On Monday, Routh wanted to ask prospective jurors a series of bizarre questions that the judge scrapped, including “If you saw a turtle in the road, would you stop?”
That was the only question he asked that the judge gave him the chance to amend, but he chose not to.
Prosecutors had objected to the “silliness” of the “formulation” of the turtle question.
Cannon described the questions Routh submitted to the court for jury questioning as “very much off base” with “no relevance” to jury selection.
When Routh pressed her on why the questions were off base, she said questions he submitted asking about “students supporting Palestine” and “purchasing Greenland,” for example, are policy-based and “politically-charged” questions that do not relate to the subject matter of the case.
She said the U.S. Government’s questions submitted to the court did relate to the subject matter of the case, and so largely, those questions made the cut for jury selection.
Last year, a grand jury indicted Routh on five counts to include the “attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.”
On Sept. 15, 2024, at about 1:30 p.m. as Trump golfed at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, a Secret Service special agent assigned to the then-former president spotted a rifle poking out of a tree line.
The agent fired a shot in the direction of the rifle.
Investigators say a witness then spotted Routh running off and jumping into a Nissan SUV, which deputies located in the northbound lanes of Interstate 95, about 45 minutes later.
Items found along the tree line included a backpack, a loaded semi-automatic rifle and 19 rounds of ammunition.
A recently filed exhibit list shows the mounting evidence against Routh, including an Aug. 25, 2024, Signal private message from Routh requesting “help ensuring that (Trump) does not get elected,” to a Feb. 3, 2024, WhatsApp chat about sniper concealment in President John F. Kennedy’s assassination as the prosecution paints the picture of a man who methodically plotted to kill Trump as the former president was running for re-election.
Just two days before the incident, investigators say Routh googled to learn more on how the semi-automatic rifle found at the scene works. He has also previously visited website articles regarding “U.S. Secret Service response to assassination plots,” the documents show.
A Google search is also listed for Aug. 30, 2024, for “how long does gun residue stay on clothing?”
Other exhibits on the list include photos of handwritten notes listing zip ties, electrical tape and a handwritten list of Trump’s schedule from Aug. 30, 2024, to Oct. 19, 2024, located inside the Nissan he was driving.
Also removed from the Nissan were a handwritten note containing flight information to Mexico and Colombia and driving directions to Miami International Airport.
In recent filings to the court, laced with grammatical and punctuation errors, the defendant challenged Trump to a golf game.
“He wins he can execute me,” Routh wrote. “I win I get his job.”
In his June letter to the court, Routh said he had hoped for a prison swap with a Ukrainian soldier, “so that I could die being of some use and save all this court mess.”
He also questioned “Why is the death penalty not allowed?”
“At nearly 60, a life of nothingness without love — what is the point? Why is it not all or nothing?"
If convicted, Routh faces the possibility of life in prison.
Jury selection is set to run three days with opening statements scheduled for Thursday.
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