Florida prosecutors say Ryan Wesley Routh's sympathy with Ukraine's cause to fight Russian aggression shows he has a strong sense of right and wrong and will make it difficult for him to plead an insanity defense to his alleged assassination plot against former President Donald Trump.
State's Attorney Dave Aronberg, who is not handling Routh's case because federal prosecutors have asserted jurisdiction, said the defendant, who was seen smiling and laughing with his lawyers at his first court appearance Monday, had a “manic” demeanor that didn't suggest he was criminally insane.
“In the end, he tried to get out. He tried to get away,” he said. “I mean, he knew the difference between right and wrong. The irony about this guy is that he understood that the Ukrainians were the good guys in their fight against Russia, but he was willing to do something bad, which was obviously to try to kill someone, to get his point across.”
Trump assassin suspect laughs and smiles at first court appearance in Florida
Ryan W. Routh stands handcuffed near Palm City, Florida, on September 15, 2024, after his arrest on suspicion of plotting to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a golf course in West Palm Beach. (Martin County Sheriff's Office/Distributed via Reuters)
Federal investigators said an unnamed U.S. Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a rifle protruding from a fence at the edge of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Sunday afternoon, about 12 hours after Routh's cellphone began ringing.
He got into a Nissan SUV and sped away, heading north on Interstate 95 toward his home in North Carolina.
WATCH: Florida prosecutor blasts holes in possible defense for man accused of attempting to assassinate President Trump
Authorities said with the help of witnesses, police were able to quickly obtain a description of the suspect and vehicle.
At the scene, agents found an SKS rifle, a digital video camera and two bags, one of which contained food, according to an indictment filed in federal court.
Witnesses saw Trump assassin suspect fleeing bushes, took photos of getaway car
“This guy has a fundamental misalignment of values,” Aronberg said. “Something’s not right. [that] In my opinion, this is insufficient to sustain an insanity defense as a matter of law.”
WATCH: Ryan Routh, suspected of attempting to assassinate President Trump, seen on body camera footage
Routh spoke about the Ukraine conflict in a 2022 interview. Newsweek Romania.
“A lot of other conflicts are grey, but this one is definitely black and white,” he told the media. “It's good versus evil. This is like a story, and every movie I've ever seen, this is definitely good versus evil.”“
Routh is charged with violating federal firearms laws for possessing an SKS rifle despite having multiple prior felony convictions and for having a defaced serial number on the weapon.
FBI Miami Special Agent Jeffrey Veltri also said that in 2019, a tipster suggested Routh may be a felon illegally possessing a firearm in Hawaii. The whistleblower was interviewed, but the tip was not confirmed. The FBI did not interview Routh and forwarded the details to authorities in Honolulu.
Democrats call for Secret Service to expand Trump's security perimeter: 'Unacceptable'
Ryan Routh, the suspect in an attempted assassination attempt on President Trump, was seen being taken into custody on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in body camera footage released on Monday. (Martin County Sheriff's Office)
He is due to appear in court again later this month, and authorities say additional charges may be filed.
Aronberg told Fox News Digital that he faces aggravated assault charges for pointing a rifle at a Secret Service agent and threatening the former president.
It's rare for attempted murder cases to be brought under federal law, he added.
“We may not have all the evidence yet,” he said. “It's an ongoing investigation, but this is a state-level charge rather than a federal one.”
President Trump plays golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on December 28, 2020. (Reuters/Marco Bello)
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Trump is scheduled to hold his first rally since the second assassination attempt on Wednesday, addressing voters at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.
County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder vowed that attendees would be “in the safest place in the country.”
Former President Trump was injured in an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump survived another assassination attempt, this time by 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Crooks struck Trump in the ear, killed 50-year-old father-of-two Corey Comperatore, and severely injured 57-year-old David Duch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver.
Snipers returned fire and shot him dead, but the security lapse that allowed him to climb to the roof and have a clear view of the former president led to multiple investigations and a shake-up of the Secret Service's top brass.
