Defendant Ryan Routh’s courtroom soliloquy cut short; cross-examination begins with philosophical questions to Secret Service agent

In a surreal courtroom scene, a federal judge abruptly halted the opening statement of defendant Ryan Routh, who began his defense not with legal arguments but with a rambling discourse on human history, Vladimir Putin, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The unusual exchange took place on Thursday, with Judge Aileen Cannon repeatedly attempting to rein in Routh, who is accused of illegally possessing a firearm at President Donald Trump’s Florida golf course.

Routh’s opening remarks started 5.2 million years ago and delved into the nature of human existence and “hate,” telling jurors that “modern trials seem to eliminate all that is human.”

He a

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