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FORT PIERCE, Fla. () The prosecution in the case against a man accused of trying to kill then-candidate Donald Trump called their final witness Friday.
An FBI agent who set up the command post outside of Trump’s West Palm Beach country club delivered testimony that was expected to last all day.
Friday was the seventh day of testimony in the trial of Ryan Routh, who prosecutors said spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club.
Ryan Routh was tracking Trump’s plane: Witnesses
Two witnesses who testified on Thursday said that Routh had information about Trump’s plane.
Gregory Turner a member of the FBI Honolulu office while executing a search warrant, collected a document from Routh’s home that had Trump’s plane tail number, flight plans, and talked about West Palm Beach.
Kenny Smith, a detective with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, said a video showed Routh looking out the window in the direction of Trump’s plane from Palm Beach Airport before getting up and walking away from the terminal.
Brothers testified that Routh left container with weapons at their home
On Wednesday, a pair of North Carolina brothers testified about a box left with them by Routh.
Samuel and Lazaro Plata described in Spanish through translators how Routh left the container filled with pipes, bullets, wires and other items at Lazaro Plata’s home in Greensboro, North Carolina, in April 2024 about five months before the alleged attempt.
Trump survived earlier attempt on his life before Routh arrest
Trump had survived an earlier attempt on his life while campaigning in Pennsylvania. That gunman had fired eight shots, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear. The gunman was then fatally shot by a Secret Service sniper.
Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had initially blocked off more than three weeks for trial at the Fort Pierce federal courthouse. But prosecutors have said they should be able to rest their case by Thursday or Friday, and Routh’s witnesses have been subpoenaed to appear by Friday.
