Florida man accused of Trump assassination attempt seeks to act as his own attorney | Crime Alert 6AM 07.15.25

Ryan Routh, the Florida man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election, is seeking to represent himself at trial. During a July 10 hearing, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — a Trump appointee — took up the request but has yet to issue a ruling.

Prosecutors warn Routh intends to turn the proceedings “into a circus.” He was arrested on Sept. 15, 2024, after a Secret Service agent allegedly spotted him holding a rifle through a fence at Trump International Golf Club, where Trump was playing a hole away.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert. I'm John Lemley. A Florida man charged with
trying to assassinate Donald Trump now wants to act as
his own lawyer. In federal court. Fifty nine year old
Ryan Routh told US District Judge Aileen Cannon he wishes
to dismiss his court appointed attorneys and represent himself. Judge

(00:20):
Cannon asked if he'd prefer new council. Ralph replied no,
I will represent myself. The judge then closed the court
room for about an hour to discuss attorney client matters
in private. Prosecutors allege Routh planned the attack for weeks
before aiming a rifle through shrubbery. As Tromp played golf

(00:41):
on September fifteenth, twenty twenty four, at his country club
in West Palm Beach, Florida. A Secret Service agent spotted
Ralph before Trump came into view. When Rauth allegedly aimed
his weapon at the agent, the agent fired first, causing
Ruth to drop his rifle and flee without firing a shot.

(01:01):
Law enforcement later located Routh with help from a witness
who had seen someone running from the scene. Prosecutors say
the witness was flown by police helicopter to a nearby interstate,
where Routh was arrested and identified. Routh has pleaded not
guilty to several federal charges, including attempting to assassinate a

(01:23):
major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and possessing a
firearm with an obliterated serial number. He also faces state
charges of attempted murder and terrorism. The U. S. Supreme
Court has ruled defendants have the right to represent themselves
if they can show a judge they're competent to waive

(01:43):
legal counsel. Ralth's federal trial is set for September. If convicted,
he could face up to life in prison.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Thanks John for the latest crime and justice needs. Go
to crime online dot com and please join us for
our daily podcast, crime Stories, more crime and justice news
after this Now with the latest crime and justice breaking
news Crime Online John Limley.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Maine County police are investigating the death of a local
paddle boarder as a homicide. The body of forty eight
year old Sunshine Steward of Tenants Harbor, was found July
third on Crawford Pond in Union. Officials have ruled her
death a homicide, but aren't revealing the cause. Police are
asking anyone who saw Stuart paddleboarding July second, between six

(02:33):
and nine pm near one hundred Acre Island to come forward.
The pond, about eighty miles northeast of Portland, is popular
with campers and voters. Loved ones calling her Sonny have
launched a gofund me page, which has raised over nineteen
thousand dollars. Police say they understand the community's fear and
urge residents to stay alert as the search for her

(02:56):
killer continues. Two former West Virginia Corrections officers had been
sentenced to decades behind bars for their roles in the
beating death of an inmate at the Southern Regional Jail
in Beaver. Forty one year old Mark Holdron received a
twenty year prison term, while thirty three year old Jonathan
Walters was sentenced to twenty one years. Prosecutors say in

(03:19):
March of twenty twenty two, Holdren and Walters handcuffed and
restrained thirty seven year old pre trial detainee Quantes Burkes
in an interview room with no cameras, where they repeatedly struck, kicked,
and pepper sprayed him after Burks became unresponsive. Walters swung
his head into a metal door before officers dropped him

(03:41):
on a concrete floor. Burks died soon after the US
Justice Departments as Holdron and Walters admitted knowing officers used
camera blind spots to assault inmates. They're among six officers indicted.
Former supervisor Chad Lester was sentenced in May to over
seventeen years for helping cover up the attack. Two other

(04:04):
officers had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Initially, the state
medical examiner ruled Burke's death natural, but a private autopsy
ordered by his family revealed multiple blunt force injuries. A
Utah judge has set an execution date for a death
row inmate with dementia nearly four decades after the crime.

(04:27):
Sixty seven year old Ralph Leroy Menzies is scheduled to
die by firing squad September fifth for the nineteen eighty
six abduction and murder of Maureen Hunsicker, a twenty six
year old mother of three. Judge Matthew Bates signed the
death warrant July ninth, ruling that despite recent cognitive decline,

(04:47):
Menzies consistently and rationally understands why he is being executed.
Menzie's attorneys argue his dementia has worsened, leaving him wheelchair bound,
dependent on O oxygen and unable to comprehend his legal case.
A hearing on his competency is set for July twenty third. Menzies,

(05:08):
convicted in nineteen eighty eight, chose firing squad decades ago,
an option for Utah inmates sentenced before two thousand and four.
If carried out, it would make him only the sixth
prisoner in the US executed this way since nineteen seventy seven.
The Utah Attorney General's Office expressed confidence in the ruling.

(05:29):
Hunsicker was kidnapped from a convenience store in Kerns, near
Salt Lake City, and later found strangled with her throat
cut in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Thanks John for the latest crime in justice news. Go
to crime online dot com and please join us for
our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our best
to find missing people, especially children, and solve Unsalt homicides.
With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace.