Man Charged With Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump Pleads Not Guilty

Washington: A man who was arrested for an alleged assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Monday to federal charges.

According to officials, accused Ryan Wesley Routh spent 12 hours camping outside Donald Trump 's golf course before the Secret Service nabbed him. 

Ryan Wesley Routh made a brief appearance in federal court in West Palm Beach just days after a grand jury issued a five-count indictment related to the second attempt on Trump’s life since July.

Entering the courtroom handcuffed and wearing a tan jumpsuit, Routh waved his hands at the reporters present. His attorneys chose not to comment following the hearing.

Man Accused of Attempting To Assassinate Trump Pleads Not Guilty

The assassination attempt was thwarted when a member of his Secret Service protective detail spotted Routh's rifle barrel protruding through the golf course fence line, ahead of where Trump was playing, authorities say. The agent fired in the direction of Routh, who sped away and was arrested in a neighbouring county.

Routh did not fire any rounds and did not have Trump in his line of sight, officials have said. He left behind a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a plastic bag containing food.

“Routh Planned To Kill Trump Months Ago”

Prosecutors have said that he had written of his plans to kill Trump in a handwritten note months before his Sept. 15 arrest in which he referred to his actions as a failed “assassination attempt on Donald Trump ” and offered $150,000 for anyone who could “finish the job.” That note was in a box that Routh had apparently dropped off at the home of an unidentified witness months before his arrest.

Monday's hearing was held before a magistrate judge. But further proceedings will be overseen by US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump and was also assigned to the criminal case accusing the former president of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Cannon generated intense scrutiny for her handling of Trump's criminal case, which she dismissed in July — a decision now being appealed by special counsel Jack Smith's team.

Routh's arrest came two months after Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has acknowledged failings leading up to that shooting but has said that security worked as it should have to thwart a potential attack in Florida.

Routh was initially charged only with gun offenses in a criminal complaint, but prosecutors later sought additional charges from a grand jury. It’s common for prosecutors to file the most readily provable charges first and then pursue more serious ones as their investigation progresses.

Among the other charges against him are illegally possessing a firearm despite multiple felony convictions, including two counts of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina. He is also accused of having a weapon with a serial number that has been obliterated and is unreadable, which violates federal law.

(With inputs from AP)