(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A man who authorities say staked out Donald Trump for 12 hours on his golf course in Florida and wrote of his desire to kill him pleaded not guilty to a slate of charges on Tuesday.
Ryan Wesley Routh had been initially charged with two federal firearms offenses. Last Tuesday, the Justice Department announced a five-count indictment in which Routh is also charged with attempted assassination.
According to the court docket, Routh only spent about three minutes in court on Tuesday.
Ryan Routh pleaded not guilty today in a short 3-minute court appearance.
I wasn't there. I only have the docket entry. pic.twitter.com/ioY6vyQDZY— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 30, 2024
“ARRAIGNMENT as to Ryan Wesley Routh (1) Count 1,2,3,4,5 held on 9/30/2024. Defendant was present with counsel. Defendant was advised of the charges and possible maximum penalties,” the latest entry on the docket states as of the publication of this article.
“Defendant waived formal reading of the Indictment, entered a plea of not guilty, demanded a trial by jury and requested the Court issue the Standing Discovery Order. Total time in court: 3 minutes.”
Court records show the case has been assigned to Aileen Cannon, a Trump-appointed federal judge who in July dismissed a criminal case charging Trump with illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The initial charges Routh faced in a criminal complaint accused him of illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions and with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. It is common for prosecutors to bring preliminary and easily provable charges upon an arrest and then add more serious offenses later as the investigation develops.
The FBI had said at the outset that it was investigating the episode as an apparent assassination attempt, but the absence of an immediate charge to that effect opened the door for Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to announce his own state-level investigation that he said could produce more serious charges.
The Justice Department also said last Monday that authorities who searched Routh’s car found six cellphones, including one that showed a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.
A notebook found in his car was filled with criticism of the Russian and Chinese governments and notes about how to join the war on behalf of Ukraine.
In addition, prosecutors have cited a book authored by Routh last year in which he lambasted Trump’s approach to foreign policy, including in Ukraine. In the book, he wrote that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump” for having left the nuclear deal.
Meanwhile, Routh’s son, Oran Routh, was arrested last week on child pornography charges. The FBI raided Routh’s home in connection to his father’s alleged assassination plot, purportedly finding child pornography on the son’s devices in the process.
Read the criminal complaint filed against Oran Routh, the son of the 2nd failed Trump assassin, for allegedly possessing child porn pic.twitter.com/A6xolNmfE4
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 24, 2024
A detention hearing for Oran is set for Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
