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FLORIDA: A man charged with trying to assassinate President Donald Trump last year in South Florida can represent himself during his trial, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon signed off on Ryan Routh’s request but said court-appointed attorneys need to remain as standby counsel. Earlier in the week, the federal public defenders had asked to be taken off the case, saying Routh had refused repeated attempts to meet with them.

Routh said during the hearing that his attorneys were diligent, but they didn’t listen to him and were afraid of him.

“How are they supposed to represent me and say I’m not a dangerous person when they don’t believe that?” Routh said.

Routh, 59, is scheduled to stand trial in September, a year after prosecutors say a US Secret Service agent thwarted his attempt to shoot Trump as he played golf. Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations.

Reiterating her message from a July 10 hearing, Cannon told Routh that she doesn’t intend to delay the Sept. 8 start date of his trial, even if she lets him represent himself. She also once again told Routh that she believes it’s a bad idea for Routh to represent himself.

Routh, who said he completed two years of college after earning his GED certificate, told Cannon that he understands the potential challenges and would be ready for trial.

Cannon said Thursday that she decided to hold the second hearing after receiving a June 29 letter from Routh that did not arrive at the courthouse until after that hearing. In that letter, Routh said he and his attorneys were “a million miles apart” and that they were refusing to answer his questions. He also wrote that he could be used in a prisoner exchange with Iran, China, North Korea or Russia.

“I could die being of some use and save all this court mess, but no one acts; perhaps you have the power to trade me away,” Routh wrote.

Cannon told Routh that she believed the federal public defenders assigned to Routh’s case were excellent attorneys.

“I find no basis to believe that there has been ineffective assistance of counsel,” Cannon said.

The judge also reminded Routh that she will not be able to assist Routh or provide legal advice during the trial.

Cannon also briefly addressed Routh’s suggestion of a prisoner exchange, saying, “I have no power or any opinion of anything you’ve written there.”

On Wednesday, the federal public defender’s office filed a motion for termination of appointment of counsel, saying “the attorney-client relationship is irreconcilably broken.” Attorneys said Routh has refused six attempts to meet with their team, including a scheduled in-person meeting Tuesday morning at the federal detention center in Miami.

“It is clear that Mr. Routh wishes to represent himself, and he is within his Constitutional rights to make such a demand,” the motion said.

Cannon denied their motion on Thursday, explaining that their office was in the best position to prevent delays to the trial.

The US Supreme Court has held that criminal defendants have a right to represent themselves in court proceedings, as long as they can show a judge they are competent to waive their right to be defended by an attorney.

Prosecutors have said Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15 at his West Palm Beach country club. A Secret Service agent spotted Routh before Trump came into view. Officials said Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot.

Law enforcement obtained help from a witness who prosecutors said informed officers that he saw a person fleeing. The witness was then flown in a police helicopter to a nearby interstate where Routh was arrested, and the witnesses confirmed it was the person he had seen, prosecutors have said.

Routh will have his first chance to represent himself on Friday during a scheduled hearing on whether certain evidence and testimony can be used at trial. His former attorneys are expected to be present as standby counsel.

In addition to the federal charges, Routh also has pleaded not guilty to state charges of terrorism and attempted murder.

LONDON: Former leftist Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced Thursday he was forming a new political party alongside another ex-member of Britain’s ruling party, as the UK’s political landscape continues to splinter.
Corbyn, who lost two elections as Labour leader in 2017 and 2019, and fellow independent MP Zarah Sultana referred to the new left-wing outfit as “Your Party,” but later said its name still had to be decided.
“It’s time for a new kind of political party. One that is rooted in our communities, trade unions and social movements,” they said in a joint statement.
In their announcement, they called for a “mass redistribution of wealth and power” and said they would “keep demanding an end to all arms sales to Israel.”
They also committed to a “free and independent Palestine.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has pulled Labour to the center since succeeding Corbyn as leader, faces growing calls within his party to recognize a Palestinian state.
Corbyn, 76, stepped down as Labour leader after overseeing its worst result in decades, when it was trounced in the 2019 general election by the Conservatives, then led by Boris Johnson.
Labour under Starmer suspended him in 2020 after he refused to fully accept the findings of a rights watchdog’s probe into claims that anti-Semitism had become rampant within Labour’s ranks under his leadership.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission ruled the party had broken equality law when Corbyn was in charge.
Corbyn said anti-Semitism had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons.”
Last year Corbyn announced he would stand as an independent in the July 2024 general election after Labour failed to put him forward as a candidate.
He was expelled from the party but still went on to win comfortably his Islington North seat in London, which he has represented for more than 40 years.
Sultana, an MP since 2019, was suspended by Labour last year after she and several other members of parliament voted to scrap a controversial cap on child benefits.

While it remains to be seen whether the new movement will take off, its formation appears to confirm a trend in British politics toward a multi-party system.
British politics has long been dominated by Labour and the Conservatives, but three other parties are challenging that order.
The center-left Liberal Democrats won 72 seats in the 650-seat parliament in July 2024, while Nigel Farage’s anti-immigrant Reform UK party won about 14 percent of the vote.
It picked up five seats, an unprecedented breakthrough for a hard-right party in Britain.
Farage’s Euroskeptics swept dozens of council and mayoral seats in local elections in May and are leading national opinion polls, although the next general election is not expected until 2029.
While Reform are picking up support on the right, Labour is also losing votes to the Greens on the left.
Starmer, a former chief state prosecutor who is seen as too right-wing for some left-wingers in his party, recently suspended four lawmakers who rebelled over his attempts at reforming welfare.
They currently sit as independents and Westminster watchers will be keeping a close eye on whether they are tempted to join Corbyn’s new party.
“I do think there is space for a left-wing populist party in the UK with a charismatic leader that could pose an enormous threat to Labour and the other parties, but it’s going to take a lot to convince me that Jeremy Corbyn can be it,” Chris Hopkins, political research director at polling firm Savanta, told AFP.