Trump documents case judge may also get trial of man accused in assassination attempt

A criminal trial for Ryan Wesley Routh, the man accused of plotting to shoot Donald Trump at the former president's West Palm Beach-area golf course, may be held before U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, court records show.

Cannon is the federal judge who drew Trump’s classified documents case, filed by special council Jack Smith after a federal grand jury in June 2023 indicted Trump on charges related to hoarding sensitive records he’s accused of taking with him when he left the White House in January 2021.

Cannon also could order Routh’s criminal trial to occur in Fort Pierce, where she sits as the federal courthouse’s lone district judge, and where the classified documents case is being heard.

Martin County Sheriff's officials apprehended this man on Sept. 15, 2024, in connection with what the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was investigating as an apparent 'attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.' He has been identified as Ryan Routh.
Martin County Sheriff's officials apprehended this man on Sept. 15, 2024, in connection with what the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was investigating as an apparent 'attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.' He has been identified as Ryan Routh.

Routh, 58, who was indicted Sept. 24 on charges of attempted assassination, is accused of stalking Trump in the days before U.S. Secret Service agents on Sept. 15 prevented him from firing a loaded weapon he left behind when he fled Trump International golf course in unincorporated West Palm Beach.

A grand jury also indicted him on charges of stalking, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer.

According to the five-page indictment, Routh now could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate.

United States District Judge Aileen Cannon, of the Southern District of Florida, is pictured in this 2021 portrait.
United States District Judge Aileen Cannon, of the Southern District of Florida, is pictured in this 2021 portrait.

During a Sept. 24 detention hearing in West Palm Beach, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe ordered he be held without bail.

It’s unclear from court records when Routh may appear before Cannon. On Monday, he pleaded not guilty to all charges against him before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart in West Palm Beach.

How did Cannon get assigned to Routh’s case?

Cannon, a 2020 Trump appointee who lives in Vero Beach, is the only district judge seated at the Alto Lee Adams Sr. U.S. Courthouse in Fort Pierce, the northernmost outpost of the South Florida district that includes West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

Her assignment to Routh’s case came after federal prosecutors on Sept. 24 filed his indictment in the West Palm Beach division, where she draws about half of her assigned cases, among five other judges selected using a computerized system.

The Alto Lee Adams Sr. U.S. Courthouse, at 101 South U. S. 1, is seen on Friday, Aug, 23, 2024, in downtown Fort Pierce.
The Alto Lee Adams Sr. U.S. Courthouse, at 101 South U. S. 1, is seen on Friday, Aug, 23, 2024, in downtown Fort Pierce.

That’s also how Cannon drew Trump’s classified documents case.

Cannon’s handling of that case has drawn extraordinary media and legal scrutiny, especially since July, when she dismissed the charges against Trump, writing in an order that Smith’s appointment in the case was unlawful.

Cannon in part ruled Smith’s job is so powerful he should have either been confirmed by the Senate or Congress should have explicitly authorized the post.

Smith filed an immediate appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to reverse Cannon’s order.

Trump later praised Cannon’s ruling, calling for an end to the "Weaponization of our Justice System" in a post on Truth Social.

How was Ryan Routh caught?

Routh was apprehended Sept. 15 on Interstate 95 in Martin County. A witness near the golf course had taken a photo of his car and license plate and reported it to authorities, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.

In court, federal prosecutors indicated the evidence against Routh included a handwritten letter detailing an attempt to kill Trump, as well as anecdotes from an e-book Routh wrote in February 2023. In the book, titled "Ukraine's Unwinnable War," Routh said he felt partly to blame for having elected a president who "ended up being brainless.”

During a detention hearing, federal prosecutors said Routh traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach on Aug. 14, 2024, despite having no known ties to South Florida. And according to data retrieved from his cellphone, Routh went to Trump International Golf Club and Mar-a-Lago “multiple times” during the month before the suspected assassination attempt.

He is accused of staking out Trump International for 12 hours on Sept. 15, behind a chain-link fence with a loaded rifle and a bag of mini-sausages.

When an agent fired at him, Routh fled on foot to a black Nissan Xterra across the street where a witness took a photo of his car and captured all but the last digit of his license plate.

Inside of his Xterra, agents discovered two additional license plates, six cellphones — one of which contained the Google search query: "how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico" — 12 pairs of gloves, a passport and a handwritten list of venues where Trump was scheduled to appear.

In court papers, federal prosecutors noted a trial could last 15 days.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Ryan Routh may go on trial in Fort Pierce before Judge Aileen Cannon