WEST BEACH: On Monday, Ryan Routh, 58, entered a not-guilty plea to multiple federal charges. Routh is suspected of hatching a plan to assassinate Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at his Florida golf property.
During a brief arraignment in a federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, his attorney Kristy Militello submitted a not guilty plea and asked for a jury trial. When the magistrate judge asked Routh if he was aware of the charges against him, he replied, “Yes, your honor,” while sporting a beige prison uniform and shackles around his wrists and ankles.
On September 15, Routh was taken into custody when a Secret Service member noticed a rifle barrel protruding from shrubbery around the edge of the West Palm Beach golf course, where Trump was teeing off.
Routh was apprehended shortly after the agent fired fire and escaped in a car. He is accused of assaulting a federal officer, trying to kill a prominent presidential contender, and breaking laws pertaining to firearms. Last Monday, a federal judge made the decision that Routh, who is believed to be a resident of Hawaii, should stay in detention.
According to prosecutors, Routh had been in Florida since August 18 according to an FBI study of his phone, and his gadgets had been found several times between August 18 and September 15 in the vicinity of Trump’s golf club and Mar-a-Lago home. Based on the location data from his phone, Routh was about the Trump International Golf Club for almost twelve hours before the Secret Service agent saw him.
