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Witnesses place Ryan Routh in Palm Beach County before alleged Trump assassination attempt

AT&T store worker from North Carolina testifies Routh bought phone under the alias 'John White'

Lothar Speer

This courtroom sketch shows Secret Service agent Robert Fercano identifying the defendant in the trial of Ryan Routh, who is charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last year at a golf course in South Florida, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Fort Pierce, Fla.

By: Ethan Stein , Associated Press

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FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Jurors in the Ryan Routh trial heard from three witnesses Wednesday morning as testimony continued inside a federal courthouse in Fort Pierce.

Routh is accused of trying to kill Donald Trump at the president's golf course near West Palm Beach last year.

FBI details digital trail in trial of man accused of trying to kill Trump

The first two witnesses testified that Routh was in Palm Beach County before the shooting.

These accounts build off Tuesday's testimony from an FBI agent about the cellphone records placing Routh's phone in Palm Beach County and moving around the golf course for at least a dozen days prior to his arrest on Sept. 15, 2024.

Michael Brooks, a deputy sheriff for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, testified Wednesday that he was working road patrol in the Glades area last summer.

Brooks said he was called to a truck stop for a report that somebody was having a medical emergency. This is the same truck stop where Routh was based for much of his time in Palm Beach County.

The deputy said he never found the medical emergency, but he did have an encounter with Routh, who was visible on Brooks' body camera on Sept. 6.

Bullet casing, flight notes: FBI lays out evidence in Routh trial

Patrick Lantry, an agent with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office who is also part of the FBI's joint task force, also testified Wednesday.

Lantry testified that the truck stop in the Glades area, where Routh had been spending time, was a rural and remote part of Palm Beach County.

Lantry explained they found some security footage that showed Routh was in the area along with Vienna sausage cans. Cans of Vienna sausages were found near Routh's alleged sniper perch outside of Trump's golf course.

A third witness, Aaron Thompson, who works at an AT&T store in Greensboro, North Carolina, was the third witness on Wednesday.

He testified that the FBI visited his store after Routh was arrested and asked him if he remembered previously selling a phone to a person named "John White".

Thompson told the FBI that "White" was memorable because of his actions and aloofness.

He said that "White", who Thompson identified as Routh in court, asked for a prepaid line of service with "no direct strings attached" and paid in cash. He also said Routh, who used the alias "John White", didn't give any person information like an address, state identification or Social Security number. A receipt showed that Routh spent $80 at the store.

A video was played in court that showed Routh at the AT&T store wearing a white shirt and plaid pants.

During cross-examination, Routh commented about how the government was able to bring Thompson from Greensboro to Florida to participate in the trial.

"That's awesome. Welcome to Florida," Routh said.

Routh seemed confused why the entire security camera footage at the AT&T store wasn't shown to the jury, asking prosecutors to play the entire video. However, Cannon denied that request, which prompted Routh to respond: "I don't even know where to go from here."

A fourth witness, Ronnie Jay Oxendine, testified Wednesday that he sold Routh the SKS rifle that was found outside Trump's golf course.

Oxendine, a North Carolina resident, was charged with federal gun charges and is testifying as part of a plea deal.

He testified that he knew Routh owned a roofing company and would run into him when they bought supplies.

Oxendine said his co-worker Tina Brown Cooper — who is also facing federal gun-related charges but is not testifying — asked him if she could buy an AK-47. He then offered to sell her a different rifle, saying they used the same ammunition.

Oxendine and Cooper had conversations about buying a rifle, but when it came time to buy the weapon on Aug. 2at his office, he said Routh appeared unexpectedly.

That's when Oxendine said he learned the gun discussion with Cooper was actually for Routh. Oxendine said he left the gun on a trash can near his office, collected $350 for the rifle and then saw Routh give Copper $100.

Oxendine testified he saw Routh pull the bolt of the gun back and asked if he had any ammunition that he could put in the chamber, which gave the impression to Oxendine that Routh knew how to use the rifle.

Oxendine said he continued to sell Routh the gun because "I already told her (Cooper) I'd sell it" and that Routh told him he was giving the gun to his son.

Prosecutors said that Oxendine also instructed Cooper on where the serial number is on the gun. Routh is also charged with removing the serial number from the rifle.

When Routh was arrested, Oxendine said Cooper asked him not to cooperate with the FBI and showed texts that she sent that said "Do not admit to anything. There is no proof."

During the cross-examination, Routh said to Oxendine, "Great to see you again. … I know you are extremely mad at me."

Routh then asked the court if he could transfer a year of Oxindine's punishment to himself in exchange for his behavior.

Routh then said that "after decades of work … I own nothing" and "my wife owns everything, and I own nothing." Routh also said he had an employee die on the job at his roofing company, and that he had a new company in Hawaii building tiny homes.

Routh's federal charges include:

Attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate
Possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence
Assaulting a federal officer
Felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition
Possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number

The trial is expected to run for two or three weeks.

Routh was a North Carolina construction worker who in recent years had moved to Hawaii. A self-styled mercenary leader, Routh spoke out to anyone who would listen about his dangerous, sometimes violent plans to insert himself into conflicts around the world, witnesses have told The Associated Press.

In the early days of the war in Ukraine, Routh tried to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to fight the Russians. In his native Greensboro, North Carolina, he was arrested in 2002 for eluding a traffic stop and barricading himself from officers with a fully automatic machine gun and a "weapon of mass destruction," which turned out to be an explosive with a 10-inch fuse.

More of WPTV's coverage of Trump assassination attempt below: