Man accused of trying to assassinate Trump pleads not guilty to charges

Ryan Wesley Routh appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach, just days after a grand jury issued a five-count indictment in the second assassination attempt on Mr. Trump since July.

Routh entered the courtroom handcuffed in a brown jumpsuit and waved to reporters who had gathered to watch the proceedings.

His lawyers declined to comment after the hearing.

The assassination attempt was foiled when a member of his Secret Service protective detail spotted Routh's gun barrel sticking through the golf course fence line, in front of where Mr. Trump was playing, authorities say.

The agent fired in the direction of Routh, who sped away and was arrested in a neighboring county.

Officials said Routh did not fire any shots and was not in his line of sight of Mr. Trump. He left behind a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS rifle with a scope and a plastic bag containing groceries.

Prosecutors said he wrote down his plans to kill Mr. Trump months before his arrest on September 15 in a note in which he described his actions as a failed “assassination attempt on Donald Trump” and offered $150,000 to anyone who would “finish.” “The work could become”.

This note was in a box that Routh had apparently dropped off at the home of an unknown witness months before his arrest.

Monday's hearing took place before a magistrate judge. However, the rest of the proceedings will be overseen by US District Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed as a judge by Mr Trump and also assigned to the criminal case in which the former president is accused of illegally hiding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate to have hoarded.

Ms. Cannon drew intense scrutiny over her handling of the criminal case against Mr. Trump, which she dismissed in July — a decision that special counsel Jack Smith's team is now appealing.

Routh's arrest came two months after Mr. 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 this shooting but said security forces functioned properly to thwart a possible attack in Florida.

Routh was initially charged only with weapons offenses in a criminal complaint before prosecutors brought additional charges before a grand jury.

Prosecutors often quickly file initial, easily verifiable charges and add more serious charges later as the investigation progresses.

Other charges he faces include illegally possessing his gun despite multiple felony convictions, including two counts of possession of stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina.

He is also accused of possessing a firearm whose serial number was obliterated and unreadable to the naked eye, a violation of federal law.