Ryan Routh, the suspect in the second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty to federal charges Monday, Sept. 30. Prosecutors say Routh camped outside Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, for 12 hours with a rifle before being spotted by a Secret Service agent on Sept. 15.
That agent noticed the barrel of a gun sticking out from a tree line and opened fire. Routh escaped unharmed and was later tracked down by law enforcement and arrested.
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Investigators revealed that Routh had been in Florida since Aug. 18. His phone’s location data showing multiple visits to areas surrounding Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
Routh is charged with five federal offenses, including the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate and assault on a federal officer, along with gun crimes. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A federal judge ordered him to stay behind bars, and his defense team requested a jury trial.
Prosecutors revealed that Routh had written about his plans to kill Trump in a letter. He offered $150,000 to anyone who could “finish the job.”
In July, Trump escaped an assassination attempt while giving a speech at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from atop a warehouse, narrowly missing Trump’s head and causing him to bleed from his ear.
Crooks was shot and killed by a counter-sniper team.
