AILSA CHANG, HOST:
In Florida today, prosecutors rested their case against Ryan Routh. He’s the man charged with trying to assassinate Donald Trump during his reelection campaign. This was the second alleged attempt on Trump’s life last year, and it happened at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach. Now, Routh has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He’s representing himself in court and will begin presenting his defense case on Monday. NPR’s Greg Allen has been at the trial and joins us now from Fort Pierce, Florida. Hi, Greg.
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: So how much evidence do prosecutors have linking Routh with the alleged attempt to attack Trump?
ALLEN: Well, you know, Justice Department lawyers have spent seven days in court detailing a plot that they say Routh began actively working on in March of last year. They had witnesses who saw Routh flee from the golf course. In addition, they have a trove of data from surveillance camera videos and cellphones. Over the last two days, we heard from FBI Supervisory Special Agent Kimberly McGreevy, who detailed evidence that tracked Routh’s activities in Palm Beach County between August 14 and September 15 of last year when he was arrested. The data shows Routh was living during that time in an SUV parked at a truck stop. Prosecutors say he shuttled regularly between Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, his Trump International Golf Club and Palm Beach International Airport, where Trump keeps his plane. In the days before the alleged attack, cellphone pings show that Routh spent as much as 16 hours some days in the area around the golf club, where prosecutors say he was planning his attempt on Trump’s life.
CHANG: And a secret service agent says it was Routh he saw and fired on, right? Remind us what happened there.
ALLEN: Yeah, a secret service agent who was part of Trump’s security detail says he saw a gun poking from the tree line a few holes ahead of where Trump was golfing that day. He fired on the person holding the gun, and that person fled. Now, both the secret service agent and another witness identified Routh as the man who was in what prosecutors are calling a sniper’s hide. The prosecutors presented witnesses who testified that they helped Routh acquire the SKS rifle that was left at the scene and seized by agents. They showed the jury text messages where Routh set up the buy to get the gun. The FBI agent testifying today, Kimberly McGreevy, read to this jury a series of texts and searches that Routh allegedly did on his phone in the weeks before his arrest. One web search asked, how many bullets does an SKS rifle hold?
CHANG: Well, prosecutors say that Routh spent a month in Palm Beach County before the alleged assassination attempt, right? What was he doing exactly for a month?
ALLEN: Right. Well, the FBI agent, McGreevy, spent several hours today with – showing texts and web searches that showed that he was searching for information about Trump’s schedule and his campaign events. She showed receipts for gears that he was working to acquire as he was here, as he prepared for the attack – a GoPro-style camera, electrical tape to secure his rifle scope, a zip tie, even a note that he made to himself to remember to use bug spray. McGreevy showed web searches and texts with a friend in Mexico that she says show that Routh was planning to fly out of the country but was arrested first.
CHANG: OK, and as we mentioned, Ryan Routh has been acting as his own attorney, which is not usually advised. So I’m just curious – how’s it going so far?
ALLEN: Well, it’s not your typical defense by any means. Prosecutors had presented their case with very few objections from Routh. His cross-examinations of their witnesses have been short, scattered and, you know, really confusing. In his cross-examination today of FBI Agent McGreevy, he spent a lot of time focused on issues that are really peripheral to the main charges. The prosecution presented 38 witnesses and rested their case today. But that means Routh will be at center stage on Monday when he begins presenting his own defense case. He has just three witnesses listed – a gun expert and two people that he says will testify to his, quote, “peacefulness, gentleness and nonviolence.”
CHANG: That is NPR’s Greg Allen in Fort Pierce, Florida. Thank you, Greg.
ALLEN: You’re welcome.
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