FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Several law enforcement officials took the stand Friday to detail how they responded on the day they discovered Ryan Routh’s alleged attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump.
The trial, which wrapped up early on its fifth day, is moving along faster than anticipated, as Routh takes little time to cross-examine witnesses.
Routh is representing himself as he faces five charges for allegedly attempting to assassinate Trump at his Florida golf course. The jury heard Friday from two officials — Sergeant Kenneth Mays and Lt. William Gale of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office — who responded to the situation on Sept. 15, 2024, along with several FBI agents who recovered evidence from the scene.
Mays, who was helping with protection that day, explained how he sprang into action after hearing “shots fired!” over the sheriff’s office communications channel. With no access to the Secret Service channel and no further information provided over his own, he began trying to figure out what was happening.
After a Secret Service agent at the golf course clubhouse was unable to provide him with any information, Mays parked on Summit Boulevard, where he heard another agent and found a spot in the bushes cleared away like “somebody had been in there.” In that spot — which was Routh’s hiding place — Mays found a rifle leaned against the fence and two bags clipped to it, which he asked Gale to examine using X-ray.
When Gale arrived on the scene after hearing “shots fired!” over the radio, he encountered a citizen, Tommy McGee, with information about a man he spotted fleeing.
McGee, a mental health counselor, testified Thursday that he followed Routh after hearing the gunshots. He said he did so to record Routh’s license plate number and to take a photo.
Prosecutor John Shipley said on Thursday that McGee is “the reason the defendant didn’t get away.” Shipley credited Secret Service agent Robert Fercano with stopping Routh from “getting away with it.” Fercano also testified Thursday about spotting Routh hiding in the bushes.
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Before lunch, the jury also heard from FBI laboratory operational media specialist Erin Casey and FBI Special Agent Kathryn Rose.
Rose displayed items recovered from the scene to the jury, including the rifle, a GoPro camera, the bags strapped to the fence and the metal plates contained inside. Casey testified that Routh was positioned just around 126 feet from the flag on the sixth hole, where Trump would have been heading next.
“Seems like we got nowhere,” Routh said after asking Rose a question about tape on the rifle’s scope. “Thank you for your useful testimony.”
Routh spoke little for most of the day, asking few questions during cross examination and forgoing his opportunity entirely for two witnesses.
In the afternoon, FBI Special Agent Kristin Bailey told the jury how she took DNA evidence using a mouth swab and collected Routh’s fingerprints.
“You left out the hair,” Routh criticized in his only question during cross examination. “You pulled all my hair out, and it’s not even in the evidence?”
Bailey replied she wasn’t asked about the hair.
Other afternoon testimony came from FBI digital forensic examiner Elizabeth Riddell, who extracted several videos from Routh’s GoPro camera, FBI Special Agent David Gilbert, who cleared Routh’s firearm of ammo; and FBI Special Agent Jose Loureiro, who photographed Routh and his clothing once he was in custody.
Witness testimony began Thursday following opening statements, where prosecutor John Shipley told the jury that Routh had a “carefully crafted and deadly serious plot” to ensure the public could not re-elect President Donald Trump. Routh’s rambling opening statement, featuring remarks about human history and international relations, was quickly ended by the judge after he failed to heed her warning about making a “mockery” of the courtroom.
Judge Aileen Cannon directed Routh and his standby council to have defense witnesses ready to testify on Sept. 19, as prosecutors intend to rest their case on Sept. 18.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Joe Gratz/Flickr)
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