The Brief

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A federal jury determined Ryan Routh was guilty Tuesday of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump last year at his South Florida golf course.

Jurors convicted him on all five counts, including attempted assassination and weapons violations. Even though the rifle was never fired that day, federal lawyers say Routh had "intent" and made a "substantial step in the alleged attempt." He now faces up to life in prison.

Federal prosecutors rested their case last Friday after spending a total of seven days presenting 38 witnesses. They detailed what they say was Routh's planned attack against the then-GOP presidential candidate as he golfed at his West Palm Beach club on Sept. 15, 2024.

The verdict came after a trial that took two-and-a-half weeks, proceeding quicker than prosecutors and U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon anticipated. The main reason was that Routh, acting as his own attorney, spent relatively little time cross-examining prosecution witnesses and called just three people to testify in his defense.

His defense, which took just a few hours, came after a prosecution case that lasted seven days and called 38 witnesses.

Judge Cannon cautioned Routh as he prepared to deliver his closing argument Tuesday that he would have to restrict his remarks to evidence introduced at the trial. But he repeatedly flouted those judicial guidelines, prompting objections from the prosecution and a warning from the judge.

Routh tried to explain to the jury why he offered such a limited defense. He said he wanted to subpoena twenty witnesses and introduce 500 exhibits, but rulings by the court prevented that. That led Judge Cannon to temporarily halt the proceedings and issue Routh a stern warning.

In his closing, Routh told the jury the case was about "intent and whether someone can actually pull the trigger and take someone's life." Acting as his own lawyer and referring to himself as "the defendant," Routh suggested to jurors that he had actually planned an attempt on Trump's life while the then-presidential candidate was golfing on the 5th hole, 375 yards from the sniper's hiding place. "The opportunity was there and the trigger was not pulled, "he said. "The crime was not committed."

This screengrab shows Ryan Routh speaking during an interview at a rally to urge foreign leaders and international organizations to help provide humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians and Ukrainian servicemen in Kyiv on April 27, 2022, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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Routh said he wasn't capable of taking someone's life. "Mere planning of something is not intent," he said. "It is only a dream, a fantasy," one he never intended to execute.

In his closing, prosecutor Christopher Browne methodically walked jurors through the trove of evidence of what he said were Routh's plans to assassinate Trump. On the question of Routh's intent, Browne said, "Why did he take these actions? Why did he load this rifle if his intent was not to kill?" In the rebuttal, prosecutor John Shipley reminded the jury that no one needs to be shot and no weapon needs to be fired for a charge of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.

In his opening, Shipley told jurors Routh wanted to ensure that voters would not be able to elect Donald Trump as president in 2024. "The defendant decided to take the choice away from the American voters," he said. The plot Routh is charged with, he said, "was carefully crafted and deadly serious."

Former Secret Service agent Robert Fercano, now with the Department of Homeland Security, said he foiled Routh's alleged attempt to shoot Trump. Fercano testified about his encounter with a man he first saw as a "face in the bushes" as Trump was golfing.

As he scanned the 6th hole of the golf course, ahead of where Trump was playing, he told the court, "I encountered what appeared to be the face of an individual (and) the barrel of a weapon protruding from the fence line."

Fercano testified he got off his golf cart and said, "Hey sir!" At first, he said, he thought he was possibly encountering a homeless person and there wasn't an imminent threat. In response, he said, "I heard what appeared to be a groan and the subject smiled at me."

Law enforcement officials work at the crime scene outside the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Sept. 16, 2024, the day after the attempted assassination of then-GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.

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At about the same time, Fercano told jurors he saw a gun barrel protruding from the fence line, which moved toward him as he backed away. He says he also noticed ballistic "bulletproof vest" plates positioned on the fence. Fercano, an ex-Marine and trained marksman, said, "This appeared to be a textbook ambush scenario."

Another prosecution witness, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Kimberly McGreevy spent hours on the stand over two days. She detailed evidence that tracked Routh's activities a month prior to the attempted shooting.

McGreevy drew on data from Routh's cell phones — he had six of them — and surveillance camera video to track his movements. The agent testified that the accused moved between Mar-a-Lago, Trump's golf club, the airport where the president keeps his plane and a truck stop where Routh was living in his SUV.

The FBI agent said that during that time, "He was living at that truck stop, conducting physical and electronic surveillance … and stalking the former president."

McGreevy also detailed Routh's alleged purchase of the SKS-style rifle seized at the golf course by federal agents and his attempt to buy a more powerful weapon.

According to McGreevy's testimony, Routh sent a text to his girlfriend in Hawaii, asking, "How many bullets does an SKS rifle hold? An AK-47 can shoot to 500 meters. I have to get to 400."

Judge Cannon agreed to allow Routh to represent himself in the trial after hearings and motions in which he said he was unhappy with his court-appointed lawyers.

In his defense, he called two character witnesses (who discussed examples of what Routh said were his "peacefulness, gentleness and non-violence") and a gun expert. Michael McClay, an ex-Marine sniper, was presented to discuss a sniper's tactics and positioning.

McClay said that when he test-fired the SKS-style rifle left at the scene several months after Routh's arrest, it malfunctioned. The gun fired — but the second round in the magazine repeatedly jammed. Prosecutors attributed that to the effects of acid used by investigators to recover the gun's obliterated serial numbers.

Other testimony from McClay was less helpful to Routh's defense. The ex-Marine sniper visited the golf course and surveyed the area around the 6th hole where prosecutors say, "a sniper's hide" was set up just outside the fence. McClay told the court it offered what he called "a clear shot" to the 6th hole where Trump was soon to arrive.

Routh then asked about whether the gun would be effective firing at the 5th hole, where Trump was golfing at the time, an area much farther away. "Depending on the skill of the shooter," McClay said, "yes."

Before his arrest, Routh already had a criminal record, including a 2002 conviction in North Carolina for possessing an explosive device. He spent much of his life in North Carolina before moving to Hawaii. He was a strong supporter of Ukraine following the invasion by Russian troops. He has said he backed Trump for president in 2016 and regrets that decision.

The attempt on Trump's life was the second that year — following a shooting during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. in July 2024. A gunman, perched on a building rooftop, fired as Trump spoke to supporters. Trump's ear was struck, and an attendee died. The gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was killed by a Secret Service sniper.
Copyright 2025 NPR

Los Angeles Unified special education teachers and parents are bracing for another year of large classes when the new school year begins, despite a first-ever limit the union negotiated this spring.

With booming special education enrollment, teachers say the district needs to hire more full-time staff to ensure tens of thousands of students receive the extra support they need — and are legally entitled to — every day.

Under the new contract ratified by the United Teachers Los Angeles, integrated classes with both special and general education students are limited to 20 students per teacher.

Classrooms with only special education students have different ratios, and those teachers qualify for a monthly stipend of $500 to $1,000, depending on how many students over the limit they have.

But teachers say that although the extra pay doesn't hurt, they want the district to focus on making both kinds of classes smaller.

Debby Schneider, a special education teacher and UTLA committee chair, told LAist that it’s not about the money.

“The stipend is to deter the district from overloading us. Really, what they need to do is open more programs and hire more educators,” she said.

Stipends for large classes aren’t new, but Schneider told LAist that in previous years, extra compensation didn’t stop the district from overfilling classrooms. Because of that history, she said she’s concerned this year won’t be any different.

As of July 17, there were 22 open positions for teachers in full-time special education classrooms, and three vacancies for those who work in integrated classes.

There are over 70,000 students enrolled in LAUSD’s special education services, which include support for learning disabilities, autism, and hearing and visual impairments. A district spokesperson wouldn't specify how many integrated classrooms are overfilled. The district is “continuously assessing staffing needs,” the district wrote in a statement, but would not comment on specific plans to hire more special ed teachers for the upcoming year.

A growing need

According to UTLA, the number of students in LAUSD’s special education services has grown over 7% since 2022, even though overall student enrollment is down by nearly 4%.

Emily Kolman, whose kindergartner receives speech therapy services, said that resources are overextended and the district isn’t doing much to help.

Kolman said her son was in an integrated class of 26 students last year. She told LAist that the teacher continuously asked the district to help her work with students in smaller groups. That help only came near summer break, which made it hard to identify students who needed extra support through the year.

Kolman and her son's teacher acknowledged that her son needed additional behavioral testing, but it was “like pulling teeth” to get a screening organized by the district. She’s now paying out-of-pocket to get him tested privately.

“I feel like our students with needs are bothersome or a nuisance for the public school” district, she told LAist.

The challenges of larger classes

LAUSD teachers say they can’t support students in growing class sizes alone.

Margaret Miller, an elementary school special education teacher, recalled that in one large integrated classroom she assisted, a student would climb on the teacher while she gave a lesson.

“When you're getting another student, it's not just a body. It's not just a kid in the classroom. It comes with quite a bit of work,” she said.

Amy Bogartz, a teacher of Deaf students, emphasized that in special-needs settings, each student requires personalized support.

“Every student requires something different. You have a student that you just need to check in on. … Then you have that other student that you need to spend three hours with,” she said.

Teresa Gaines is a parent of an 11-year-old with phonological awareness deficit and “focus issues.” She said her family is feeling the impacts of large integrated class size. She told LAist that her son’s classes have ranged from 21 to 24 students and he has often had to wear headphones to block out the noise to concentrate.

Teachers are burning out too

Some teachers said their colleagues are leaving the classroom because they’re stretched too thin to handle student behavior, or because they don’t feel supported by their school’s administration.

According to EdSource, LAUSD’s special education teacher retention rate dropped from 90% to 77% between 2021 and 2024.

UTLA's Schneider explained that the special education workload is particularly challenging. She said some teachers have duties similar to general education teachers, including writing report cards, on top of the special ed services they provide. With extra students, it can cause exhaustion, she told LAist.

Gaines, the parent of the 11-year-old in special ed, said it’s important for the district to retain teachers who have extensive experience with special education.

“I don't want to lose staff who are already teaching and in the system. I'd rather support them … so that they can further benefit all of our students,” she said.

What’s next

Teachers of classes with only special education students can qualify for the new monthly stipend starting this fall. If their class is two or more students larger than the ratio, they will be paid through a process that includes verifying the class roster.

Contract negotiations for next year will begin in the spring.

On a Sunday morning, I walked into Coral Cafe in Burbank to have breakfast with a stranger.

Raz, as he prefers to be called, has been meeting with different people — different strangers — over a cup of coffee and French toast almost every week for the past six months.

The idea started when a solo meal turned into a spontaneous shared table with a woman who was also planning on eating alone. Their hour-long conversation left a profound impact on Raz, and a lingering feeling that he wanted to have that kind of connection again.

So, he opened up the invite on Reddit. Nearly 20 neighbors have had a meal with him since then.

“For me, it's never been about who you are or the job you have,” he told LAist. “It's just more about the impact that we have on each other, and the impact that you have on me.”

A little ‘leap of faith’

I didn’t know much about Raz when I first got to the restaurant, not even his name.

I did know I was looking out for someone with shoulder length blonde hair and glasses, but I didn't need to guess much with the waiter in on the arrangement.

The waiter walked me right up to Raz at his usual table, and any of the awkwardness or strained small talk I expected evaporated almost immediately. Although we were more than 30 years apart in age, we had a lot in common.

For our second breakfast, I had bacon and hashbrowns while Raz had his usual French toast and fruit.

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The hour-long breakfast quickly turned into two as we talked about family, politics, relationships, work, childhood, religion and health, to name a few. We made tentative plans to see each other again at Raz’s weekly dance classes, hugged, and parted ways.

“We're a puzzle, right? And all the pieces are everywhere … but if you start laying them down into the puzzle, it starts to create a giant picture,” he told me over another plate of French toast last week. “And that's kind of what it is, you know? It's that connection and disconnection.”

Stories from the series

Raz shares short posts on the Burbank subreddit about each breakfast, but he’s careful to avoid any identifying details of the neighbors he’s dining with or the conversations they have.

Instead, he refers to them as nicknames like the Artist, Captain Max and the Tornado.

Raz described the Artist in his post as a woman with “electric” energy who made the table seem “a little brighter from the moment she sat down.”

There was nothing pirate-like about Captain Max, but Raz wrote that he still found himself “on the ship, sitting on a barrel of rum, listening to our captain spin tales of the sea.”

The Tornado was a smart woman, “like big-brain, med-school smart,” who treated “life like a buffet,” Raz said in his post. After drinking an obscene amount of coffee together, they realized they still hadn’t gotten each other's names, but decided they didn’t need to, for the fun of it.

Southern California can feel lonely at times, which is why Raz said he went to the cafe to begin with. But he said he doesn’t feel that way anymore, at least since having Sunday breakfasts with strangers to look forward to.

“The more I get to know people, the more I want to know more people,” he said. “And to me, that's like a new feeling.”

A tradition in LA

There’s a history of having meals with strangers in Southern California, like with the Los Angeles Breakfast Club.

The club hosts weekly breakfasts at the Friendship Auditorium in Los Feliz — a storied tradition that dates back a century.

Anna Trumbo, vice president of the L.A. Breakfast Club, told LAist people often show up alone, and it’s a great opportunity to meet others outside of your age group.

“Everyone is so welcoming, and just immediately struck up conversations, and now these are some of my best friends,” Trumbo said. “But that first morning where it really was breakfast with strangers, felt very [much] like breathing a sigh of relief.”

The heat is driving many of us to cool off at Southern California beaches. Some cities are seeing so many people — and their ever-increasing shade structures — that officials say they're worried for safety. That's because lifeguards need to maintain an unencumbered sightline to monitor swimmers and surfers in the water.

Two beach cities — Laguna Beach and Newport Beach — have made the news this year for changing their rules.

Laguna Beach

• Canopies are confined to designated canopy and pop-up canopy zones behind lifeguard towers.
• Elsewhere: Umbrellas only 

Laguna Beach officials released maps indicating where beachgoers can use canopies.

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At Main Beach, canopies are limited to the back.

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Aliso Beach now requires umbrellas only for shade on much of the beachfront.

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Newport Beach

• 6 feet by 6 feet canopies and tents only (approved in February). The new rules also prohibit beachgoers from connecting or grouping them together.

Here’s a rundown of other beach regulations

Huntington Beach

• Canopies and tents limited to 10 feet by 10 feet (100 square feet total) with two open sides.

Seal Beach

Seal Beach says no tents allowed.

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• No tents allowed on the beach.
• Umbrella or “device for shade” must be open on at least two sides.

LA County

Long Beach, LA County beaches, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Malibu

• No canopy bans
• Cities urge beach users not to block lifeguards’ line of sight with the beach.

Santa Monica

Santa Monica now limits the size of shade coverings.

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• No umbrellas, canopies or pop-up tents larger than 20 feet by 20 feet in size (or a total of 400 square feet)

If in doubt about local rules, when you go to the beach be sure to ask the lifeguard. They're the ones who will be enforcing bans.

Mosquitos are on the minds of Southern Californians a lot these days. Also their ankles.

Although the insects are now a year-round problem in the region, mosquito season kicks into high gear at this time of year, adding a layer of nuisance to barbecues and other outdoor activities.

But the insects are also a more serious concern for public health.

West Nile virus is spreading in the United States at rates not seen in two decades, according to federal public health officials. Scientists are also logging a rise in infected insects in Southern California, where the virus is carried by a native species of mosquito.

Meanwhile, a different, invasive species of the insect is jumping in population. Aedes aegypti can transmit the diseases dengue fever, Zika and yellow fever.

In response, vector control officials around the region are releasing millions of modified mosquitoes to try to reduce overall populations.

West Nile virus

The virus is the most common and serious mosquito-borne disease in the state, according to the California Department of Public Health.

And there are more mosquitos testing positive for West Nile in Southern California this summer than normal. Data from the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District show the number of West Nile-infected mosquitos hit levels in June that weren’t hit until August of 2025.

But it's not yet clear if the higher rate of infected insects will translate to more human cases. Southern California has seen two human cases of the virus this summer — one reported in the Antelope Valley and one in Long Beach.

“Having two cases reported in our area is not unusual. It's already July,” said Dr. Aiman Halai with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “Our mosquito activity picks up around May and goes on till November, December, and it's typically around this time that we start to get human cases.”

L.A. County has seen an average of 41 cases of West Nile virus per year over the past five years. The actual number of cases is likely much higher, however, as the majority of infected people do not show symptoms.

In cases where symptoms do develop, they can include fever, body aches, rash, nausea, vomiting and headache. Approximately 1 in 150 people also develop serious symptoms, such as brain inflammation and paralysis. West Nile is a neurological virus that attacks a person’s central nervous system.

Public health officials say people over 55, people with chronic health conditions or those who are at high risk of illness are most susceptible to West Nile. There is no vaccine or treatment for the virus.

Aedes aegypti

West Nile virus is transmitted by a mosquito species native to Southern California called Culex quinquefasciatus, a.k.a. the southern house mosquito, which feeds on birds as well as humans.

In fact, West Nile virus can’t be transmitted directly from human to human. It has to be carried by a mosquito from a bird to a human, because birds carry a higher concentration of the virus in their blood.

But that’s not the case for other diseases transmitted by a different mosquito species, Aedes aegypti. The invasive mosquito has made itself more than comfortable in Southern California since it established itself here over a decade ago.

The species was responsible for an outbreak of dengue in L.A. County in 2024.

“We saw local transmission of dengue happening, and that is obviously a great concern to us, and that's something that we're trying to avoid,” said Steve Vetrone with the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District.

Symptoms of dengue fever include fever, body aches, nausea, vomiting and rashes. About one in four people infected with dengue will get sick. One in 20 will contract a more severe version of the disease, which can result in shock and internal bleeding.

Aedes aegypti can also transmit Zika and yellow fever.

Tristan Hallum releases mosquitoes in Bassett Park. The San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District is releasing about 30,000 in the park and the surrounding neighborhood each week.

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Don't worry. The males released by San Gabriel Valley vector control officials don't bite.

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Sterilized Insect Technique

Public health officials use an array of strategies to manage mosquito populations.

Some of the most effective identify standing water where mosquitos can reproduce, whether that’s a natural pond or water collected in garden pots. Officials will sometimes use satellite imagery to identify unmaintained backyard pools that have turned into mosquito breeding grounds.

Severe situations can be treated with pesticides. Crews will treat gutters and underground storm drains where water can collect, for example.

They are also rolling out a new strategy called SIT, or Sterilized Insect Technique, that specifically targets Aedes aegypti.

The technique involves releasing hundreds of thousands of male Aedes mosquitos that have been sterilized, meaning they can no longer reproduce, using a specialized virus or radiation.

Once released, the male mosquitos will mate with females in the natural population, but since they will not produce viable offspring, the overall Aedes aegypti population decreases over time.

The San Gabriel Valley Vector Control District launched its SIT program this summer. Earlier this month, district scientists began releasing 30,000 sterilized mosquitos each week in Bassett Park and the surrounding neighborhood. They plan to release almost 500,000 in the area by the end of October.

“We are talking about established populations of these types of invasive species in essentially every city across our district,” said Tristan Hallum, a scientist with the district. “So we're seeing them fairly consistently across our area, and we're trying to identify the best possible way to alleviate some of this bite pressure for our residents.”

L.A. County launched a similar program in Sunland-Tujunga in 2024. Orange County’s program has been focused in Mission Viejo.

“People are seeing a good reduction in the number of mosquitoes that are out there, and they're pretty happy with it,” said Miquel Jacobs with the Orange County Vector Control District.

However, as promising as these Southern California SIT programs are, they are only test cases. It remains to be seen if they can be scaled up.

The best thing to do in the short term, officials say, is to get rid of the standing water that mosquitos use to reproduce.