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    • ‘Alleged Trump shooter’ sends letter to Palm Beach Post
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    ‘Alleged Trump shooter’ sends letter to Palm Beach Post

    Sakege Posted on

    The letter’s author, reportedly in prison, reflects on the role of Palm Beach County voters in the upcoming election.

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    • Prosecutors fear the suspect’s contact with the media could undermine the trial.
    • The suspect’s lawyers said restricting his access to case materials violates his right to a fair trial.

    WEST PALM BEACH – Prosecutors warned that The man accused of plotting to kill Donald Trump. I would try to contact the media. Fearing calls for violence against the former president or attempts to undermine the trial, lawyers asked a judge to limit Ryan Routh access to case materials, a move that Routh’s lawyers said would violate his rights to free speech and a fair trial.

    While lawyers debated his ability to make his political views known, Routh, or someone on his behalf, appears to have already done so.

    Two weeks after prosecutors filed a motion detailing Routh’s desire to write to various media outlets, The Palm Beach Post received an unsolicited letter addressed by “alleged Trump shooter Ryan W. Routh.”

    The four-page letter does not provide details about the alleged attempted murder for which Routh faces life in prison. Instead, its author reflected on how the people of Palm Beach County will vote on Tuesday and what consequences will follow.

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    Federal prison officials declined to authenticate the letter, but confirmed that its return address is assigned to Routh, 58, who is in custody at a detention center in Miami.

    The margins of the letter contained an email address with instructions to contact Routh’s daughter and confirm the writer’s identity. Routh’s daughter, who has the same email address listed in public records, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

    According to prosecutors’ motion, Routh’s daughter told her father during a jailhouse call that speaking to the media would not be good for “us” at this time.

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    Routh’s attorneys, Kristy Militello and Renee Sihvola, declined to authenticate or comment on the letter. In a court filing, public defenders questioned Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Dispoto’s alleged concern about Routh’s ability to influence public opinion through the media.

    “It is the government that has been disseminating information to influence the public’s perception of this case,” the attorneys wrote. “Only the Government, including the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Secret Service, have made public statements.”

    They pointed out that the prosecutor seeking to curtail Routh’s speech is the same one who published photographs of another letter Routh is suspected of writingaddressed “to the world.” That letter included a call to “finish the job” that began on Sept. 15, when prosecutors say Routh pointed a rifle at a putting green at Trump International Golf Club, Trump’s private course near West Palm Beach.

    The letter to the Post did not include calls for violence. Instead, he predicted the end of democracy and the start of a civil war if Trump wins a second term. He warned that the Republican candidate “will not leave power if we all give it to him.”

    “Will Palm Beach County hand the keys to our nation to the Trumps for the next century or more?” the writer asked. “How does Palm Beach view its neighbor?”

    Letter from alleged suspect reflects on the fate of the United States and pickleball

    Routh is neither a legal analyst nor a political scholar. His story, which includes an extensive criminal record, instead shows him an itinerant activist and a volatile figure motivated by intense and evolving political beliefs.

    In 2022, weeks after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Routh posted on social media that he was willing to die for the cause. He left his construction job and family in Hawaii and traveled to kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

    Routh was once a Trump supporter. He published an e-book in 2023 in which he said he felt partly guilty for electing a president who “ended up being stupid.” In the book, he said Iran was “free to assassinate Trump and me for that error in judgment.”

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    The letter to the Post, like Routh’s book, contains moments of self-praise. It described a moment in which Routh allegedly gave his shirt to a homeless woman while playing a game of pickleball, and proposed a similar test of Trump’s charitable nature.

    “Suppose a poor person with a broken-down vehicle blocks the entrance to his house or golf course from entering: would you go out and help the poor person fix and move the vehicle, or would you shout and bark orders to be removed?” “The shit out of the way.”

    The letter continued: “I’ve always been the one to pull over to the side of the road and help; it’s the American way. But again, I may be wrong, but I imagine Trump yelling and screaming ‘to get that piece of sh*t moved “

    Person claiming to be Ryan Routh tells voters: ‘Please help’

    The writing, a mix of cursive and handwriting, appears to match that of the letter prosecutors say Routh wrote to one of his associates before the assassination attempt. In that letter, an excerpt of which appears in court documents, Routh described a failed assassination attempt on Trump.

    “I failed you,” Routh wrote, in part. “I did my best and gave him all the courage I could muster. Now it’s up to you to finish the job.”

    The letter to the Post did not contain any reference to the assassination attempt beyond the nickname “Alleged Shooter.” However, it contained a petition for Palm Beach County residents.

    “Palm Beach should lead the way and guide our country to hopefully choose democracy over a dictator,” it said. “I hope you will respect your leadership role and pressure your state and country to maintain our American way of life for our children. Please help.”

    In addition to the attempted murder charge, Routh faces charges of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number and assaulting a federal officer. He has pleaded not guilty to each.

    U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the same judge who dismissed Trump’s classified documents case, scheduled his trial to begin in February. As of Nov. 2, he had not ruled on prosecutors’ motion to bar Routh’s unsupervised access to case materials.

    Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can contact her at [email protected]. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.

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