Alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh makes wild demand, turning upcoming trial 'into a circus'

Ryan W. Routh is attempting to fire his court-appointed attorney and represent himself less than two months before his trial on charges that he tried to assassinate Donald J. Trump in September 2024 — just after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to stymie Routh’s desire to “turn this trial into a circus.”

Routh, 59, of Greensboro, N.C., sent a typed letter to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that was dated June 29 and filed on the court docket July 11 saying that he would “be representing myself moving forward.”

‘I no longer want to listen to how horrible a person I am.’

“It was ridiculous from the outset to consider a random stranger that knows nothing of who I am to speak for me,” Routh wrote. “That was foolish and ignorant, and I am sorry — a childish mistake.”

Routh faces a Sept. 8 trial on five federal charges stemming from the attempted assassination of President Trump at his West Palm Beach, Fla., golf resort.

Routh is charged with the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of the assassination attempt, intentionally assaulting a Secret Service officer, illegally possessing a firearm as a felon, and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The FBI said Routh set up a sniper’s nest just outside the fence near the sixth green of the Trump International Golf Club. Routh allegedly possessed a “military-grade” SKS rifle with a magazine containing 19 rounds with one in the chamber, ready to fire on President Trump, prosecutors said.

About 1:30 p.m. Sept. 15, 2024, a Secret Service agent doing a perimeter sweep of the golf course “saw the partially obscured face of a man — later identified as Routh — in the brush along the fence line near the sixth hole,” the DOJ said at the time of Routh’s arrest. “The agent fired at Routh when he saw a rifle aimed at him through the chain-link fence.”

Routh could face life in prison if convicted of the attempted assassination charge. The other counts carry prison terms of five to 20 years each.

RELATED: Suspect Ryan Routh accused of nearly killing little girl after 2nd Trump assassination attempt

Photo by Artem Gvozdkov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Judge Cannon scheduled a July 24 Faretta hearing to determine whether Routh can proceed as his own counsel. An initial hearing on the matter was held July 10, but the judge ruled that a follow-up hearing is required before she will rule on Routh’s motion to represent himself.

In his letter to the court, Routh claimed his federal public defenders “refuse to answer my questions,” leading him to conclude, “Best I walk alone.”

“I no longer want to listen to how horrible a person I am,” Routh wrote. “I can beat my own self up; I do not need help. Bashing me is fine, but selling hard to my daughter that I a [sic] peice [sic] of s**t goes to another level. I do not enjoy that from those that are supposed to be on my side — unfortunate.”

Defense attorney Kristy Militello submitted a forensic competency review under seal for the judge to consider. Judge Cannon ordered Militello to continue representing Routh on pending matters until the issue is settled on July 24.

Federal prosecutors filed a 20-page motion attempting to cut Routh off from what they described as his desire to turn the trial into a circus. A hearing on that motion is set for July 22.

“A defendant may not use general evidence of his supposed good character to prove that he did not commit the charged crimes,” prosecutors wrote in the July 8 motion. “A ruling to that effect is especially vital here. As the court knows, Routh has been very explicit in his desire to turn this trial into a circus where his supposed good character is weighed against the president’s.

“Routh’s desire is reflected by his discovery production — almost none of which relates to any element of the charged offenses, but instead only to persuading the jury that he is a good person,” prosecutors wrote. “He even has provided us with four-decades-old Eagle Scout applications.”

‘Why is it not all or nothing?’

Prosecutors have asked Judge Cannon to preclude Routh from offering his own writings or statements in an attempt to prove his character or explain his motives. Under federal rules of evidence, prosecutors can offer Routh’s communications, writings, or statements as evidence, but the defendant cannot introduce other writings. Such material would be considered self-serving hearsay.

“Those materials include his self-published book, ‘Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,’ in which he invites a foreign country to assassinate President Trump, and an apparent ‘dedication’ letter, which Routh left at the crime scene, which provides a list of defendant’s justifications for his attempted murder of the president,” prosecutors wrote. “Unless the government chooses to introduce some or all of these writings, Routh cannot.”

In his letter to Judge Cannon, Routh questioned why the death penalty is not on the table for his alleged crimes.

“Why is the death penalty not allowed, at nearly 60 a life of nothingness without love — what is the point?” Routh wrote. “Why is it not all or nothing?”

RELATED: Alleged attempted Trump assassin's political rant revealed in prison letter

Suspected would-be assassin Ryan W. Routh demanded to represent himself in a letter to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Routh restated his desire to be released in a prisoner swap with the terror group Hamas, Iran, China or be allowed “to freeze to death in Siberia in exchange for a Ukrainian soldier so that I could die being of some use and save all this court mess — but no one acts; perhaps you have the power to trade me away.”

“What an easy diplomatic victory for Trump to give an American he hates to China, Iran or North Korea or wherever as a gesture of peace in exchange for an unjustly held democratic prisoner — everyone wins,” Routh wrote.

Prosecutors said they expect to introduce communications between Routh and a onetime employee, Tina Brown Cooper, with whom he allegedly conspired to illegally obtain the SKS rifle for the assassination attempt and a .50-caliber rifle. Cooper arranged for Routh to buy the SKS rifle from her current boss for $350, prosecutors said. Routh paid Cooper $100 for arranging the deal, court records allege.

On July 7, Cooper pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors in North Carolina to one federal count for transporting the SKS rifle. She will be sentenced on Oct. 2.

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