Secret Service agent testifies he came within 5 feet of alleged would-be Trump assassin

(NEW YORK) — The Secret Service agent who spotted Ryan Routh’s alleged sniper perch on the golf course where Donald Trump was playing last year testified at Routh’s trial Thursday that he came within five feet of Routh’s rifle before he realized Routh was armed.

Routh, who is representing himself, is on trial in Florida on charges of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump on his golf course last September.

“The barrel of the AK was pointed directly at my face,” Secret Service agent Robert Fercano testified. “I was in fear for President Trump’s life.”

The first witness called in Routh’s criminal trial, Fercano offered testimony that sheds new light on the public’s understanding of the alleged attempted assassination.

Fercano said he was serving as a site agent on Trump’s West Palm Beach Golf course that day, reviewing the hole ahead of Trump for potential threats. As he approached the sixth hole, he said he first noticed some “abnormalities” at the tree line.

“I encountered what appeared to be the face of an individual,” he said. “I attempted to initiate contact by being friendly with the individual, and said, ‘Hey.'”

Fercano said he then noticed “an object to the left of me beginning to move.”

“I heard what sounded like a groan and the subject smiled at me,” Fercano said. “My initial thought was that this was potentially a homeless person camping out.”

While Fercano said he initially thought Routh was not a threat, he stated that he then noticed an object “black in nature protruding from the fence line” when he was approximately five feet from Routh.

“Upon further scanning, I had identified the weapon to be a Soviet-style weapon,” he said. “I noticed the front sight post was facing me.”

A former Marine marksman, Fercano said the situation “appeared to be a textbook ambush scenario.”

“The barrel of the rifle was continuously moving in my direction,” he said.

Fercano said he began moving backwards and drew his sidearm. “I made the decision to fire my service weapon in the last known direction of the subject,” he said.

Jurors in the courtroom then heard a recording of the frantic radio traffic after Fercano fired.

“Mogul on five green,” Fercano was heard saying on the radio, referencing Trump’s call sign. “Shots fired, shots fired, shots fired. Individual … with a gun.”

“AK-style weapon,” Fercano was heard saying. “The individual is inside the tree line. All units be advised that looked like an AK-47 style weapon.”

Fercano testified that he prepared for a gunfight, but Routh fled the scene. He found Routh’s rifle and body armor at the location Routh had used as his perch.

At one point, prosecutors brought out Routh’s weapon — unloaded and disarmed — for the jury to see. Fercano, wearing black latex gloves, demonstrated how the rifle was positioned to the jury.

Routh leaned forward in his chair and studied Fercano and the gun while the testimony took place.

On cross-examination, Routh — who is not a lawyer and has no legal education — greeted Fercano before he began his questions.

“Good to see you sir,” Routh said. “Is it good to be alive?”

“Yes,” Fercano responded.

“Right on,” said Routh.

Throughout the cross-examination, Routh appeared to acknowledge that he was the person Fercano had spotted on the course.

“I had noticed yourself in the fence line,” Fercano told Routh.

“The defendant was fairly concealed?” Routh asked.

“Yes, you were fairly concealed,” Fercano responded.

Rough attempted to suggest that the rifle Fercano spotted was not held in a threatening manner, or that he lacked the mindset to actually fire the weapon.

“I don’t know your mindset that day, but I know you pointed [your rifle] at my face,” Fercano said.

Routh concluded the cross-examination by attempting to cast doubt on how Fercano could defend himself without wearing body armor during the incident.

“I had my wits and my service pistol,” Fercano responded.

Fercano’s testimony followed the trial’s opening statements, during which Routh was cut off by the judge.

Routh launched into a speech about the origin of the human species, global conflicts, and his political grievances, before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon cut him off after about six minutes for making arguments that she said have “absolutely nothing to do with the evidence in this case.”

“You do not have an unlimited license to go forward to make a mockery of the dignity of this courtroom,” Judge Cannon said.

Routh began his opening by contemplating how humans have gotten “derailed and so full of hate.”

“Modern trials seem to eliminate all that is human,” he told the jurors as he stood before the jury box. “What is in the heart and mind is all that matters.”

Routh then criticized U.S. foreign policy for standing by while, he said, “Putin has slaughtered 1.5 million” and “Netanyahu has killed 60,000” — arguing that the U.S. “supports his genocide.”

He also appeared to criticize Trump for “trading a war for an election” and moving the U.S. embassy in Israel.

After Judge Cannon criticized Routh for going off topic, Routh restarted his opening to encourage jurors to focus on his intent.

“This case hangs on intent. What is in one’s heart,” he said before nearly breaking into tears.

“This case means absolutely nothing. A life has been lived to the fullest,” he said before Cannon cut him off again.

Prosecutors allege that Routh put together a methodical plan — including purchasing a military-grade weapon, researching Trump’s movements, and utilizing a dozen burner phones — to kill Trump based on political grievances.

Hiding in the bushes of Trump’s Palm Beach golf course and armed with a rifle, Routh allegedly came within a few hundred yards of the then-presidential nominee before a Secret Service agent spotted his rifle poking out of the tree line.

Routh allegedly fled the scene but was later arrested by a local sheriff’s office on a nearby interstate.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley, in his opening statement, described Routh’s alleged plot as “carefully crafted” and “deadly serious” with one goal in mind.

“Last year, the defendant Ryan Routh wanted to make sure the people of this country could not elect Donald Trump,” Shipley told the jury. “The defendant decided to take the choice away from the American people.”

If it weren’t for the actions of a bystander and a Secret Service agent, Shipley said, Trump would have likely been killed last year as he approached the sixth green of his West Palm Beach golf course.

Shipley told jurors that Routh lied to his family about his whereabouts while living in his car at a gas station near Trump’s golf course. While there, Routh began “obsessively researching the movements of Donald Trump online” and put together a “gear list” that included zip ties, metal armor plates, and adult diapers, Shipley said.

The morning of Sept. 15, Routh left the gas station and took up a sniper’s perch near the sixth hole of Trump’s golf course, “where the defendant expected his target to die,” Shipley said. If it weren’t for the actions of Fercano and a bystander who identified Routh, Shipley said Trump would have likely been killed.

“If not for Agent Fercano’s actions, Donald Trump would not be alive and the defendant’s assassination plot would be successful,” he told jurors.

Nearly a year after the alleged assassination attempt, Routh faces five criminal counts that risk sending him to prison for the rest of his life. Despite lacking any legal experience, Routh dismissed his lawyers earlier this year to defend himself at trial.

“I will 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 told U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in a July letter. “I am so sorry, I know this makes your life harder.”

Routh’s self-representation created some issues during the three days of jury selection earlier this week. Judge Cannon — who previously oversaw and dismissed one of Trump’s criminal cases — refused to use many of his proposed jury questions, deeming them too “political.”

Among other subjects, Routh had proposed asking jurors about their stance on Palestine and Ukraine, and about Trump’s proposed acquisition of Greenland.

Routh has said in court filings that he plans to defend himself by focusing on his self-described peaceful nature and his care for humanity, in part by calling to the stand his son and multiple friends to testify about his character.

Judge Cannon has barred him from trying to argue that his alleged actions were justified, that he did not intend to carry out the assassination, or that his actions were protected by First Amendment rights.