(Adnkronos) – The trial of Ryan Routh, accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at his golf course in Palm Beach last summer, begins today in Florida. The man, who was stopped on September 15 by a Secret Service agent who opened fire after discovering him armed near the course’s fence line, pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempting to kill the then-presidential candidate, a charge that can carry a life sentence.
Routh’s arrest came two months after another attempted assassination of Trump, who was injured in the ear when Thomas Matthew Crook opened fire during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The trial against Routh will be presided over by Aileen Cannon, the federal judge appointed by Trump during his first term who last summer dismissed the case against the tycoon for the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
Routh, who is a construction worker, has decided to defend himself after firing his public defenders last July. The last trial for attempted assassination of a president was the one for the attack on Ronald Reagan. John Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was confined to a psychiatric hospital for 30 years.
