Routh trial gets a taste of Vienna sausages as it speeds along

By Alan Wooten
The Center Square

As more lawmen were testifying Friday in the assassination case against Ryan Routh, and the defendant’s taste for Vienna sausages are emerging as key evidence.

Appearing before Judge Aileen Cannon in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Fort Pierce, the North Carolina native who previously lived in Hawaii is defending himself in a trial with four weeks reserved on the calendar. Prosecutors indicated Friday they will likely rest their case by Thursday.

Routh is accused of an assassination plot against Donald Trump on Sept. 15, 2024, as he golfed in Florida. Routh never fired a shot, but an agent in the security detail did when he saw the barrel of a gun pointed at him, he testified on Thursday. The suspect fled and was later apprehended.

Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations. Court-appointed lawyers are on standby. Maximum sentencing possible is life in prison.

Routh, a construction worker by trade without litigation experience, hasn’t produced many objections and cross examinations have been short. He’s had combative exchanges with Cannon as the jury was settled into place, followed by his opening statement getting forfeited after just 10 minutes due to what she called relevance.

Proof of Routh being responsible for the crime scene adjacent to the golf course is being served through the Vienna sausages. They’re in selfie photos he sent in an attempt to prove to an acquaintance he was camping, and they’re in the crime scene he left behind, prosecutors say.

At least four witnesses thus far have mentioned them. Prosecutors told jurors on Thursday during the opening statement phase it would be a way to put Routh at the crime scene.

Aaron Casey, an FBI agent, gave a three-dimensional reconstruction of Trump International Golf Course and the crime scene adjacent to it on Friday. It served to give a drone’s eye view of what transpired, taking jurors to the scene.

Prosecutors say Routh used 10 phones, including what would be known as burner phones; three aliases; stolen license plates; and multiple lies. He has said his intent was not to kill Trump, the Republican nominee for president who would go on to defeat then-Vice President Kamala Harris riding a 93-0 edge in battleground states of the electoral college.

The incident came 65 days after a shooter on a roof struck Trump’s ear with one of eight bullets he fired in Butler, Pa.

Routh has been outspoken on world conflict, inclusive of the countries of Ukraine, Afghanistan, Moldova, Taiwan and Russia.