The trial defense of Ryan W. Routh, the man charged with trying to assassinate President Trump at one of his golf courses in Florida last year, got off to a rocky start on Thursday after a federal judge cut off his opening statement for lack of relevance.
Mr. Routh, 59, who chose to represent himself in court despite not being a lawyer, spoke for no more than five minutes before Judge Aileen M. Cannon of the Federal District Court in Fort Pierce, Fla., ended his opening statement.
Rather than lay out his defense, he made unexplained references to the future of the human species, Hitler, Henry Ford and the Wright brothers.
The unusual start to the defense underscored the perils of Mr. Routh’s self-representation in the face of serious charges. He has pleaded not guilty to trying to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations. The attempted assassination charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Opening statements in the trial began on Thursday, the day after the influential right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated, another episode of shocking violence in a nation where politically motivated attacks have surged.
On Thursday, law enforcement officers armed with assault rifles patrolled the streets outside the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, as they have every day since jury selection in the trial began on Monday. One man parked his car, festooned with pro-Trump flags, outside, saying he wanted to support the president.
Prosecutors urged jurors to focus on the evidence that they said they would present rather than on their political feelings.
“This case is not about if you like Donald Trump or not,” John Charlton Shipley Jr., one of the prosecutors, told jurors on Thursday morning.
The case, he said, was about a “carefully crafted and deadly serious” plot to assassinate Mr. Trump, who was then a presidential candidate. It was the second attempt on Mr. Trump’s life in less than three months.
Prosecutors told jurors that Mr. Routh, an itinerant building contractor from North Carolina, planned his attack for weeks before aiming a rifle from just outside the Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach on Sept. 15, 2024.
Robert Fercano, a Secret Service agent, testified that he was on a golf cart screening the course a hole or two ahead of Mr. Trump, who was playing on the fifth hole. “Mogul on five green,” a voice said in a recording of radio transmissions that prosecutors played in court, referring to Mr. Trump.
Agent Fercano testified on Thursday that he saw one or two inches of a rifle peeking through the brush near the sixth hole and feared for Mr. Trump’s life. The agent called out to him, saw the rifle take aim at Agent Fercano and fired his pistol.
“Shots fired! Shots fired! Shots fired!” Agent Fercano said urgently into his radio, according to the recording.
Prosecutors have said that shot caused Mr. Routh to drop his rifle and flee. He was later apprehended as he drove north on Interstate 95.
The 12-member jury and four alternates were seated on Wednesday after three days of screening 180 potential jurors. The trial is expected to last two to three weeks.
Judge Cannon asked potential jurors if they were able to put aside their personal feelings about Mr. Trump in order to be fair and impartial. One woman admitted that she was not sure she could be fair to the president. “I don’t like Trump,” she told the court, before being sent home on Tuesday.
Another woman, who was also dismissed, told Judge Cannon that her mind was too made up. “I am MAGA, and I love my president,” the woman said, referring to Mr. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
One prospective juror was also dismissed on Tuesday after saying that he had witnessed the defendant’s arrest. Another was sent home after he was detected by court officials taking a cellphone photo of Mr. Routh, in violation of court rules. He was ordered to delete the photo.
Mr. Routh, wearing a jacket and tie, appeared to pay close attention to the jury selection proceedings and mostly gave appropriate legal responses, such as, “No objection, Your Honor.” He tried in vain to strike any potential juror with a link to law enforcement. He also complained of not getting enough sleep in jail.
As jury selection began on Monday, Judge Cannon dismissed some questions that Mr. Routh had sought to put to the potential jurors, including questions about their views on the conflict in Gaza, Mr. Trump’s interest in controlling Greenland and what they would do if they were driving and saw a turtle in the road.
Patricia Mazzei is the lead reporter for The Times in Miami, covering Florida and Puerto Rico.
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