FBI sniper, law enforcement officials testify in trial of man accused of trying to assassinate Trump

FORT PIERCE Fla WSVN A parade of law enforcement representatives and an FBI certified sniper testified in the trial for the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump As prosecutors look to wrap up their incident spectators on Thursday described the area where investigators revealed Ryan Routh hid as he planned to shoot then-presidential candidate Trump last year FBI Special Agent Nicholas Schnelle revealed the setup inside the bushes outside the Trump International Golf Class in West Palm Beach reminded him of Afghanistan due to the gun s position in the fence with two antiballistic plates next to it He commented it was close and unobstructed and the setup was consistent with loophole shooting in combat operations Schnelle added that due to the gun being supported by the fence an accurate shot was more likely The area also appeared unaltered The vegetation is very dense and provides concealment In addition two law enforcement officers testified about Routh s interest on Trump s personal plane An FBI squad located a piece of paper with the plane s identifying N-number Routh who has been representing himself throughout the trial solicited the witness If a -year-old can look up that tail number is that FBI special information The agent replied that the information is readily available A Palm Beach Sheriff s Office detective testified about video of Routh watching the Trump plane take off from West Palm Beach When it was Routh s turn to question the witness he required Is it illegal to take pictures of airplanes Detective Kenny Smith replied No all that s legal Prosecutors declared minutes before Trump was headed to the sixth hole of his golf discipline a Secret Institution agent spotted the muzzle in the fence pointed in his direction Routh never fired a shot as Agent Robert Fercano opened fire and alerted his colleagues Shots fired Shots fired Shots fired An AK-style rifle he revealed over radio Investigators declared Routh took off following the shots from Secret Provision but he was eventually pulled over on Interstate after he was spotted by a bystander who identified him to police The Department of Justice published dash camera video showing officers speaking with the bystander It does look like him commented the bystander On a scale of to how confident are you that that is the person that you saw mentioned the officer Ninety nine point nine percent reported the bystander Over the past week and a half onlookers from Secret Provision agents to Palm Beach County deputies and forensic experts have testified about the gun the bags and other evidence determined at the scene Former employees of Routh s roofing company also informed jurors of a box he d left behind containing what now known as the Dear World letter in which he admits to the assassination attempt Throughout the trial Routh s cross-examinations have been brief and the judge has often rebuked him for irrelevant and erratic statements He has been representing himself during the whole trial The defendant s daughter Sara Routh explained she takes issue with the continuous rebukes They shut down every time he tries to say anything and maybe he s not saying it right but he s trying to get his point across But he can t get that far He gets shut down before he even gets to explain it so it s really frustrating for us she declared She added the family stands behind Routh He s never wronged anybody He s inevitably been devoted to help other people and he doesn t understand why there s not more aid declared Sara Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their witness testimonies sometime on Friday After that Routh will have his chance to call on his bystanders which is expected to include particular character eyewitnesses Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations