Wouldbe

Sept. 11 (UPI) — The trial is underway for a man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump on his golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla., during the 2024 presidential campaign.

Ryan Routh, who is defending himself in the case, was interrupted by Judge Aileen Cannon minutes into Routh’s opening remarks when he began veering off topic Thursday.

“Modern trials seem to eliminate all that is human,” Routh intoned in his opening statement.

Cannon excused the jury, then chided Routh, directing him to keep his comments relevant to the case. Routh apologized but continued on a tangent, discussing the “history” of human existence.

Canon then told Routh his opening remarks were over.

In court, Secret Service agent Robert Fercano identified Routh as the man hiding behind a shrub-covered fence near the sixth hole of the lush golf course, aiming an AK-style assault weapon at Trump. Fercano was the first government witness to take the stand in the trial.

Prosecuting attorney John Shipley Jr. said during his testimony that Routh “decided to take the choice away from the American people.”

Routh was found with a handwritten note stating his intention to assassinate Trump. Eyewitness accounts, cellphone data and security footage prove the case against Routh beyond a reasonable doubt, Shipley said.

Fercano said he noticed the muzzle of a gun protruding from the shrubbery and called out to Routh, then proceeded to call for law enforcement backup. “Hey, sir!” Fercano said he yelled.

The court then played audio of Fercano discharging his weapon in Routh’s direction and radioing colleagues. “Shots fired! Shots fired! Shots fired!” Fercano yelled. The agent testified that he believed he came within five feet of Routh.

Fercano testified that the barrel of the assault rifle was pointed directly at his face and that he feared Trump’s life was in danger. He said he initially did not think Routh was a threat until he saw the gun muzzle.

During the trial, Fercano presented a Russian-designed SKS semiautomatic weapon officials believe Routh obtained illegally and used in the assassination attempt.

Routh, a 59-year old construction worker, does not have any formal legal training.

The senator’s wife says he ‘is fighting for his life’ after being shot at a campaign event in Bogota.

Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, a possible candidate in the country’s presidential election next year, has been shot and wounded in the country’s capital, Bogota, according to authorities.

The 39-year-old senator, who was shot on Saturday during a campaign event as part of his run for the presidency in 2026, is now “fighting for his life”, his wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, said on X.

Uribe is a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Center party, founded by former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

The two men are not related.

The Democratic Center party released a statement calling the shooting “an unacceptable act of violence”.

It said the senator was hosting a campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighbourhood in the capital when “armed subjects” shot him from behind.

It described the attack as serious, but did not disclose further details on Uribe’s condition.

A medical report from the Santa Fe Foundation hospital said the senator was admitted in critical condition and is undergoing a “neurosurgical and peripheral vascular procedure”.

Videos on social media showed a man, identified as Uribe, being tended to after the shooting. He appeared to be bleeding from his head.

Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office, which is investigating the shooting, said the senator received two gunshot wounds in the attack, which wounded two others. The statement from the office said a 15-year-old boy was arrested at the scene with a firearm.

The government said it is offering some $730,000 as a reward for information in the case.

Colombia’s presidency issued a statement saying the government “categorically and forcefully” rejected the violent attack, and called for a thorough investigation into the events that took place.

Leftist President Gustavo Petro sympathised with the senator’s family in a message on X, and said: “Respect life, that’s the red line… My solidarity with the Uribe family and the Turbay family. I don’t know how to ease their pain.”

In a speech on Saturday night, Petro said that the investigation would focus on finding who had ordered the attack.

“For now, there is nothing more than hypotheses,” Petro said, adding that failures in security protocols would also be looked into.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the US “condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempted assassination” of Uribe, blaming Petro’s “inflammatory rhetoric” for the violence.

Reactions poured in from around Latin America. Chilean President Gabriel Boric said that “there is no room or justification for violence in a democracy”. And Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa said, “We condemn all forms of violence and intolerance.”

Both presidents offered solidarity to the senator’s family.

In Colombia, former President Uribe said that “they attacked the hope of the country, a great husband, father, son, brother, a great colleague”.

Uribe, who is not yet an official presidential candidate for his party, is from a prominent family in Colombia.

His father was a businessman and union leader. His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped in 1990 by an armed group under the command of the late cartel leader Pablo Escobar.

She was killed during a rescue operation in 1991.

Colombia has for decades been embroiled in a conflict between leftist rebels, criminal groups descended from right-wing paramilitaries, and the government.