Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, charged in Trump golf course assassination plot, pleads not guilty

The man accused of plotting to kill former President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course earlier this month, Ryan Wesley Routh, pleaded not guilty Monday to five counts including the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate. 

Routh, wearing a brown prison jumpsuit, walked into the courtroom in handcuffs. He sat attentively and spoke with his two attorneys, who were seated beside him.

After every charge was read to him by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart, Routh shook his head in acknowledgment of the charges. His attorneys then entered a plea of not guilty and requested a trial by jury. The next court date has not yet been announced. The entire arraignment lasted roughly five minutes. 

If convicted, Routh, who is 58, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

U.S. Secret Service agents found Routh armed with a high-powered rifle on Sept. 15 outside the Trump International Golf Club. Agents spotted the barrel of his weapon in the bushes and, according to investigators, the agents fired at Routh before he fled the scene. Prosecutors alleged he was there to kill the Republican presidential nominee.

The defendant did not fire any shots, but law enforcement said they recovered the weapon loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition. 

Last week, Routh was indicted on charges of assaulting a federal officer as well as several firearms counts. 

Court filings published last week by prosecutors said Routh months ago left a handwritten letter with a friend stating, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster.” Records recovered by investigators also revealed he kept track of Trump’s past and upcoming public appearances and searched for ways to travel from West Palm Beach to Mexico. 

Routh’s defense attorneys argued earlier this month that he should be released from custody ahead of trial, but a federal judge ordered him to remain behind bars. In addition to the attempted assassination charge, he also faces illegal firearms charges and accusations that he assaulted a Secret Service agent. 

The FBI is continuing its investigation. 

Routh’s arrest followed an attempted assassination in July at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman fired shots at the former president, injuring Trump and two others and killing one man, Corey Comperatore. That shooter, Thomas Crooks, was killed by a Secret Service sniper after he opened fire.