(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Attorneys for accused would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh have filed a motion to exclude testimony from a witness who purportedly saw Routh flee the crime scene last September.
According to Routh’s attorneys, the FBI manipulated the witness, who is identified in court records as “T.C.M.,” into identifying their client as the man who fled Donald Trump’s Florida golf course after a Secret Service agent spotted him hiding in the nearby bushes.
The defense’s Monday court filing—one of a flurry made that day—says that T.C.M. was driving to a furniture store at 1:30 p.m. when “he” saw a disheveled male run from the bushes along the exterior of Trump International Golf Club and across Summit Boulevard toward a dirt parking lot (initial reports identified the witness as female, but the defense filing identifies T.C.M. as a male).
The witness purportedly saw the man approach a black vehicle, drop a small dark object through the sunroof, and then enter and drive away. The witness took three photographs of the vehicle, including of its license plate number, 97 EEE.
The DOJ's allegation about Ryan Routh trying to buy anti-aircraft weaponry from a Ukrainian may have been the most interesting revelation from last night's court filings, but it was not the only one.
The defense also filed their own motion accusing the FBI of manipulating the… https://t.co/CJdSSxICuj pic.twitter.com/oBvzyLrttY— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) April 8, 2025
“T.C.M. described the suspect as a white male, 6’2” in height, light colored hair, and wearing a dark shirt and dark pants. According to Detective Gomez, T.C.M. described the male ‘as a younger male in his twenties,’” Routh’s attorneys said.
About an hour later, Martin County Deputy Sheriffs stopped Ryan Routh, driving a 2007 black Nissan Xterra with the same license plate. However, the vehicle didn’t have a sunroof, contrary to what the witness told police, according to the defense.
Once Routh was handcuffed and put in the back of a police vehicle, detectives spoke to T.C.M. and asked him to identify their suspect. T.C.M. was flown in a police helicopter from Palm Beach to Martin County, where he said that Routh “had the same hair and build” as the person he saw.
Police then took Routh and the witness to Palm Beach County Police station in West Palm Beach, where the former was photographed.
“Six hours later, FBI agents interviewed T.C.M. They showed him a single photograph of Ryan Routh and asked him to identify him as the male he saw running near the area of the gun shots. T.C.M. agreed that was the man from this single photo line-up,” the defense said.
According to the defense, the manner in which local and federal law enforcement handled the witness was highly manipulative.
“A show-up is inherently suggestive because the police present a single suspect to a witness thereby increasing the likelihood of misidentification. Here, the police exacerbated the suggestiveness of this procedure by presenting a suspect bound in handcuffs, in a police car, and surrounded by law enforcement,” defense attorneys argued.
“Second, following the show-up, the FBI conducted an improper photographic procedure by showing T.C.M. a single photograph of Mr. Routh. Consequently, the FBI also led T.C.M. to believe that Mr. Routh was the one, and only, suspect. These repeated, suggestive procedures created a substantial likelihood of misidentification, for which the introduction would violate Mr. Routh’s right to Due Process,” they said.
The defense further noted that T.C.M. described the man who fled Trump’s golf course as being in his 20s, while Routh was 58 at the time of the crime.
Now, the witness’s memory has been “tainted” by law enforcement’s actions, they argued.
“The significance of the impressions made by law enforcement on T.C.M.’s out of court identifications cannot be dismissed,” they argued, concluding: “This Court should recognize that danger and suppress the impermissibly tainted out of court identifications and any future in-court identifications.”
Also on Monday, Routh’s attorneys argued that the DOJ’s firearms charges against him should be dismissed on Second Amendment grounds. The DOJ countered by asking Judge Aileen Cannon to prohibit Routh from mounting bizarre legal defenses, such as that he was morally justified in plotting to assassinate Trump. As Headline USA reported Monday night, the DOJ also revealed bombshell allegations that Routh tired buying a stinger missile from a Ukrainian associate weeks before his attempt, and that he had an escape route planned with a human smuggler in Mexico.
Routh’s next court hearing is set for April 15, when the motions described above will presumably be discussed. He is set to stand trial in September.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
