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Sniper testifies Ryan Routh used military-style tactics in alleged Trump assassination attempt

Routh previously built homemade weapons in North Carolina, prosecutors say

Lothar Speer

This courtroom sketch shows Secret Service special agent Jason Harris testifying during the trial of Ryan Routh, who is charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last year at a golf course near West Palm Beach, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Fort Pierce, Fla.

By: Ethan Stein

Posted

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Federal prosecutors are nearing the end of their case in the Ryan Routh trial.

The jury on Thursday heard more information about makeshift guns prosecutors said Routh left in North Carolina before he traveled to Florida.

WATCH BELOW: Sniper testifies Ryan Routh used military-style tactics

Sniper testifies Ryan Routh used military-style tactics

The weapons were found in a box that prosecutors said Routh left at a former employee's house months before the assassination attempt near President Donald Trump's golf course near West Palm Beach.

On the stand, an ATF agent said investigators found in North Carolina various equipment that can be purchased at hardware stores like pipes, springs and clamps assembled into what it called make-shift firing mechanisms.

Some of the seven different objects had space to hold a .50 caliber bullet.

Prosecutors told the judge they found a manual about explosive devices in a trailer connected to Routh. However, they weren't allowed to introduce it to the jury because it wasn't related to the alleged assassination attempt.

Prosecutors argued these attempts at creating a makeshift gun months before his arrest showed Routh's intent to commit violence months before his arrest.

The jury on Thursday heard from a former sniper. He served as an expert witness for the prosecution to show Routh had the intent to create violence at Trump International Golf Club.

The sniper said Routh's decisions are similar to the training techniques he learned in the military.

This included going on operations at night, hiding in the bushes, using a scope, using a fence to help aim a weapon.

The sniper testified that Routh's selection of Trump's golf course to conduct a shooting was similar to predicting movements for a target.

Prosecutors also showed a list that included a green poncho, bug spray and diapers — all objects the sniper said are useful when hiding.

Routh is representing himself in the trial.

Routh's federal charges include:

Attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate
Possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence
Assaulting a federal officer
Felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition
Possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number

The trial is expected to run for two or three weeks.

Routh was a North Carolina construction worker who in recent years had moved to Hawaii. A self-styled mercenary leader, Routh spoke out to anyone who would listen about his dangerous, sometimes violent plans to insert himself into conflicts around the world, witnesses have told The Associated Press.

In the early days of the war in Ukraine, Routh tried to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to fight the Russians. In his native Greensboro, North Carolina, he was arrested in 2002 for eluding a traffic stop and barricading himself from officers with a fully automatic machine gun and a "weapon of mass destruction," which turned out to be an explosive with a 10-inch fuse.

More of WPTV's coverage of Trump assassination attempt below: