A man who authorities say spent 12 hours camping outside Donald Trump’s golf course before a Secret Service agent spotted him with a rifle pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges including attempted murder.
Ryan Wesley Routh appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach days after a grand jury returned a five-count indictment. It was the second assassination attempt against Trump since July.
Routh entered the courtroom handcuffed, wearing a tan jumpsuit, and greeted reporters present from afar. His attorneys declined to comment after the hearing.
The Sept. 15 assassination attempt was foiled when a Secret Service agent saw Routh’s rifle sticking out of the golf course fence in front of where Trump was playing, authorities say. The agent fired in the direction of Routh, who sped away; he was subsequently arrested.
Routh did not fire and did not have Trump in his line of sight, authorities detailed. When he fled, he left a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-type rifle with a telescopic sight, and a plastic bag with food.
Prosecutors have said the defendant handwrote about his plans to kill Trump months before his arrest, where he referred to his actions as a failed “attempted assassination of Donald Trump” and offered $150,000 for anyone who could “finish work.”
Routh’s arrest came two months after Trump was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has acknowledged failures leading up to the July shooting but has said security worked as it should to thwart a possible attack in Florida.
Other charges Routh faces include unlawful possession of a firearm despite multiple felony convictions, including two counts of possession of stolen property in 2002 in North Carolina. He is also accused of having a gun with a serial number that was defaced and illegible to the naked eye, in violation of federal law.
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