Judge Aileen Cannon To Preside Over Trial Of Would-Be Trump Assassin Ryan Routh
U.S. District Judge for the District of Southern Florida Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee who presided over the Biden DOJ’s bogus classified documents case, will now be presiding over the trial of Ryan Routh, who is accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course.
On September 15, a Secret Service advance team engaged a would-be assassin after they spotted the barrel of a rifle sticking through a fence on the perimeter of the course. An agent opened fire, causing the suspect to flee roughly 300 yards from the former president’s location.
An eyewitness managed to spot a suspect fleeing the scene, and managed to provide law enforcement with a physical description, as well as a description of the gunman’s vehicle. The suspect, later identified as 58-year-old Ryan Routh, was soon arrested without incident in nearby Martin County.
On Tuesday, a Miami grand jury returned a federal indictment against Routh, adding three more counts in addition to the two federal weapons charges Routh was already facing. In addition to attempting to assassinate a presidential candidate, the suspected gunman is charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime and assaulting a federal officer.
The attempted assassination charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
“The attempted assassination on the former president is a heinous act,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a press conference Tuesday. “I am grateful that he is safe, and as I said immediately after the event, the Justice Department will spare no resource to ensure accountability.”
The case against Routh is set to be overseen by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who recently threw out the Biden DOJ’s classified documents case against former President Donald Trump. Cannon ruled that special prosecutor Jack Smith’s appointment by Attorney General Garland violated constitutional precedent.
“The relevant history, according to Special Counsel Smith, shows that Congress tacitly authorized—or silently acquiesced to—the use of Section 515 (or its predecessor statutes) to appoint “special attorneys” like himself… Upon review of the murky historical record, the Court determines that, whatever themes can be drawn from that background, they cannot supplant the plain language of the statute itself, which clearly does not vest the Attorney General with such authority,” she wrote.
Cannon, whose courtroom is located in Fort Pierce, Florida, was assigned the case through a random draw among about 10 federal judges who regularly take cases arising in the Palm Beach area, according to a report from Politico.
Routh was held in pre-trial detention on Monday after it was revealed that he had written about his desire to assassinate Trump and was offering a $150,000 bounty to anyone who could pull it off.
