Ryan W. Routh is attempting to fire his court-appointed attorney and represent himself less than two months before his trial on charges that he tried to assassinate Donald J. Trump in September 2024 — just after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to stymie Routh’s desire to “turn this trial into a circus.”
Routh, 59, of Greensboro, N.C., sent a typed letter to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that was dated June 29 and filed on the court docket July 11 saying that he would “be representing myself moving forward.”
“It was ridiculous from the outset to consider a random stranger that knows nothing of who I am to speak for me,” Routh wrote. “That was foolish and ignorant, and I am sorry — a childish mistake.”
Routh faces a Sept. 8 trial on five federal charges stemming from the attempted assassination of President Trump at his West Palm Beach, Fla., golf resort.
