Donald Trump suspect Ryan Routh pleads not guilty to attempted assassination at Florida golf course
Ryan Routh, who allegedly tried to assassinate former US president Donald Trump.
In short:
A man accused of attempting to assassinate former president Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Ryan Routh, 58, pleaded not guilty to five federal charges during a hearing before US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart.
What's next?
Mr Routh will remain in custody pending trial.
The man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump on September 15 has pleaded not guilty to five federal charges.
Ryan Routh is alleged to have positioned himself with a rifle outside one of the former president's Florida golf courses.
Mr Routh, 58, entered the plea to charges that include attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate during a hearing before US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart.
He has already been ordered to remain in jail pending trial.
Mr Routh appeared for the hearing handcuffed and wearing a tan prison jumpsuit.
He answered, "Yes, your honour," when asked by Judge Reinhart if he understood the charges against him. Mr Routh's defence lawyer then entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.
Prosecutors have said he intended to kill Trump as he golfed at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Mr Routh, a struggling roofing contractor, condemned the Republican presidential candidate in a self-published book and wrote a letter months earlier referencing an attempted assassination on Trump, according to prosecutors.
"This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you," the suspect wrote, according to a court filing by prosecutors.
Lawyers for Mr Routh suggested at an earlier court hearing that the letter may have been an attempt by their client to gain publicity and highlighted what they called his efforts to promote democracy in Ukraine and Taiwan.
Mr Routh hid outside a fence overlooking the sixth hole of the golf course, where authorities found an AK-47-style rifle, a bag of snacks, a digital camera and bags containing metal plates meant to withstand return fire by the US Secret Service, according to prosecutors.
Ryan Routh pictured here in a jail booking photograph from 2010.
A Secret Service agent patrolling the course ahead of Trump spotted Mr Routh and opened fire after noticing the rifle sticking through a fence. He fled and was later arrested along a Florida highway, prosecutors said.
Mr Routh was initially charged with gun-related offences. An indictment last week added the attempted assassination charge, along with assault on a federal officer and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
The Florida incident was the second apparent assassination attempt on Trump in a roughly two-month span, raising questions about protection of the candidate ahead of the November 5 election.
A gunman wounded Trump's right ear and killed an attendee at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 before being killed by a Secret Service sniper.
Trump has sought to turn the assassination attempts into a campaign issue, alleging that the Department of Justice, which charged Trump in two criminal cases last year, should not be trusted to handle the investigation.
Reuters
By：https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-01/trump-suspect-pleads-not-guilty-to-attempted-assassination/104415698(责任编辑：admin)
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