By DAVID FISCHER, Associated Press

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Ryan Routh texted his three adult children and his fiancee separately to tell them he loved them, according to cellphone records, shortly before authorities say he was spotted by a U.S. Secret Service agent, who identified Routh as the man who tried to assassinate President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course.

Later that same day, Routh called his fiancee from the Palm Beach County jail to tell her about his arrest, but she already knew. “Everybody knows, it’s been hours,” the woman can be heard saying on a recording of the call. “The whole world knows.”

This courtroom sketch shows Secret Service agent Robert Fercano holding up the weapon found in the bushes during opening statements 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. (Lothar Speer via AP)

Routh is representing himself in federal court after being charged with trying kill Trump and is set to present his defense Monday, calling just three witnesses.

Seasoned prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida rested their case Friday afternoon after spending seven days questioning 38 witnesses in an attempt to make sure Routh spends the rest of his life in prison.

Prosecutors have said Routh spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club.

Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations.

He told U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon on Friday that he only needs half a day or so to present his defense. He has indicated that he plans to call a firearms expert and two character witnesses. He hasn’t said whether he plans to testify himself.

Cannon signed off on Routh’s request to represent himself following two hearings in July. Routh told the judge that his court-appointed federal public defenders 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 in July.

This courtroom sketch shows lead government prosecutor John Shipley speaking during the opening statements of the during 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. (Lothar Speer via AP)

The U.S. 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. Routh’s former defense attorneys have served as standby counsel since Routh took over his own defense and have been present during trial the past two weeks.

Cannon said attorneys should be prepared to deliver their closing arguments Tuesday, giving each side one hour and 45 minutes. Jurors will begin deliberating after that. Cannon had initially blocked off more than three weeks for the trial at the Fort Pierce federal courthouse, but Routh’s relatively short cross-examinations have led to a quicker pace than anticipated.

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Recounting the alleged attack at the golf course, a Secret Service agent testified last week that he spotted Routh before Trump came into view. Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot, the agent said.

Law enforcement obtained help from a witness who testified that he saw a person fleeing the area after hearing gunshots. The witness was then flown in a police helicopter to a nearby interstate where Routh was arrested, and the witness said he confirmed it was the person he had seen.

Just nine weeks earlier, Trump had survived an attempt on his life while campaigning in Pennsylvania. That gunman had fired eight shots, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear. The gunman was then fatally shot by a Secret Service counter sniper.

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, police said.

In 2010, police searched a warehouse Routh owned and found more than 100 stolen items, from power tools and building supplies to kayaks and spa tubs. In both felony cases, judges gave Routh either probation or a suspended sentence.

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

“We have a small but powerful ecosystem here: exhibition spaces, artist studios, and people who are willing to work with each other,” said Sabine Schumacher, director of BronxArtSpace in Hunts Point. “The challenge will be the political climate and if we get enough funding.” 

BronxArtSpace Director Sabine Schumacher in the gallery space on Spofford Avenue. (Photo by Nick Baumstein)

On Spofford Avenue in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx, past factories, autobody shops, bodegas, and apartment buildings, lies BronxArtSpace—an art oasis in one of New York City’s poorest neighborhoods. 

BronxArtSpace is far from alone. Nearby Mott Haven, just one stop from Harlem-125th Street on the 6 train, has become a destination for artists fleeing Manhattan and Brooklyn in search of affordable, spacious studios.

In a 2020 Curbed article, one artist compared Port Morris—the waterfront section of Mott Haven —to “Williamsburg and Bushwick in the ’90s.” But as history has shown in those neighborhoods, the arrival of artists often leads to the very outcomes they were trying to avoid.

When BronxArtSpace was founded in 2010 by artists and Bronx residents Linda Cunningham and Mitsu Hadeishi, it was originally housed in the unused ground floor of a residential building in Mott Haven. Cunningham and Hadeishi reached out to friends and other local artists to build what was essentially a guerrilla art space. Artists were not paying rent, and there was no formal structure—just a group of people creating together.

According to Sabine Schumacher, current director of BronxArtSpace and Cunningham’s wife, the initial mindset was simple: “There is an empty space next door. Let’s do some art here.”

As interest in the space grew, they formed into an official organization and began applying for grants. Soon, BronxArtSpace became a fixture in the community—a place where artists could both create and exhibit their work. Today, the nonprofit offers artist residencies and ensures that at least 45 percent of its exhibiting artists are Bronx-based.

 “The mission has not changed very much,” Schumacher notes. “It was always and still today [is] a place that shows Bronx artists and curators.”

In the early days, the artists involved were nearly all Mott Haven residents. In 2011, the Gotham Gazette referred to Mott Haven as the nucleus of the South Bronx’s growing art scene. But as is often the case, affordability didn’t last. Once artists moved in, developers took notice.

“It is the ruthless market,” Schumacher said. “Mott Haven has a waterfront, and today there are 10 high-rises. It went so fast in the last 10 years.”

In 2021, BronxArtSpace’s then-landlords threatened to raise the rent to unaffordable levels.

Schumacher had already received many relocation offers from developers—but it wasn’t until MHANY Management (Mutual Housing Association of New York) reached out that a viable path forward emerged.

MHANY, a nonprofit housing developer, was formed in 1986 in response to the city’s fiscal crisis, which had led to widespread landlord abandonment. In many neighborhoods, families were forced to repair and maintain their buildings on their own. MHANY helped formalize these arrangements, working to place buildings under tenant or nonprofit control so that residents could achieve legal occupancy.

Today, MHANY remains focused on serving low-income New Yorkers, though the challenge has shifted. In a city where even its poorest neighborhoods face rising rents, MHANY now manages over 2,000 affordable units, concentrated in Central and Eastern Brooklyn, the South Bronx, and East Harlem.

The offers Schumacher received from for-profit developers were often pitched with the idea of “bringing in art,” but came with price tags that made them inaccessible. It wasn’t until a representative from MHANY asked, “How much can you afford to pay?” that she realized BronxArtSpace could have a sustainable new home in Hunts Point.

Mayor Adams touring one of the affordable apartments at The Peninsula development in 2022. (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

The development BronxArtSpace joined is called The Peninsula, a mixed-use project developed by MHANY, Gilbane Development, and Hudson Companies on the site of the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center—once one of the Bronx’s most notorious youth prisons, shuttered in 2011 due to abusive conditions.

The new location is part of a 100 percent affordable building, with units based on area median income and many reserved for formerly unhoused residents. “MHANY is interested in having something for the residents in their building that they can go to, feel safe in, and be proud of,” Schumacher said.

In 2023, BronxArtSpace was joined at The Peninsula by Inspiration Point, another nonprofit art space with a gallery, a black box theater, and 20 affordable studios for Bronx artists. BronxArtSpace enjoys close ties with Inspiration Point and other local organizations. 

“We have a small but powerful ecosystem here,” Schumacher said. “Exhibition spaces, artist studios, and people who are willing to work with each other.”

Still, operating an art space in a low-income neighborhood is an uphill battle. “We have no problem being here for the community,” Schumacher said. “The challenge will be the political climate and if we get enough funding.” 

A recent cut to funding from the National Endowment for the Arts was temporarily offset by three private organizations, but Schumacher isn’t sure how long that lifeline will last.

“The demand on BronxArtSpace is enormous,” she said. “We could host a show here every day.” 

Despite that interest, she still cannot afford to pay herself, or her community liaison Beverly Emmers, a living wage. The lease with MHANY is for just 10 years, and beyond that, their future is uncertain.

BronxArtSpace Director Sabine Schumacher at work. (Photo by Nick Baumstein)

Organizations like BronxArtSpace are vital to the fabric of New York City—but they’re under existential threat from the affordability crisis gripping the five boroughs.

According to Eli Dvorkin, editorial and policy director at the Center for an Urban Future, the risks facing artists today are unlike those of past decades. “I think the pandemic broke something in the art sector in New York that hasn’t been fixed,” he said.

The warning comes at a time when arts organizations are bracing for millions in federal funding cuts. “The city’s economic and cultural vitality depends on a healthy arts and culture sector,” Dvorkin said. “The city is going to have to find ways to step up and do more.”

That may require broadening the scope of support. While the Department of Cultural Affairs has long been the city’s main financier of the arts, Dvorkin argues that other agencies should also be involved. He points to the possibility of setting aside affordable housing specifically for artists, or tapping the Economic Development Corporation, the Department of Transportation, and the Parks Department to contract more artists for citywide projects.

“For much of the past 30 years, policymakers benefited from an arts and culture sector that was firing on all cylinders,” Dvorkin said. “It was continually growing, so the city didn’t have to make it a top priority. But the reality today is very different.”

Despite the headwinds, BronxArtSpace has shown the work of more than 2,000 artists in its 15-year history. Its persistence and commitment to elevating Bronx voices embody what it means to be a New York City arts institution: a place where creativity endures even in the face of instability.

As Dvorkin cautions, the value of the arts cannot be taken for granted. “We can’t rest easy thinking that elected officials and policymakers innately appreciate the full range of contributions,” he said. 

“Every year, every decade, we have to renew that case with fresh storytelling, powerful data, and new analysis,” he added. “Otherwise, when budgets tighten, the arts stand to lose—precisely at a moment when we will need them more than ever.”

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org. Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post BronxArtSpace and the Fight for Affordable Creativity in NYC appeared first on City Limits.

By KIM TONG-HYUNG, Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he still has good memories of U.S. President Donald Trump and urged Washington to drop its demand the North surrender its nukes as a precondition for resuming long-stalled diplomacy.

Speaking to Pyongyang’s rubber-stamp parliament on Sunday, Kim stressed that he has no intention of ever resuming dialogue with rival South Korea, a key U.S. ally that helped broker Kim’s previous summits with Trump during the American president’s first term, according to a speech published by state media on Monday.

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Kim suspended virtually all cooperation with the South following the collapse of his second summit with Trump in 2019 over disagreements about U.S.-led sanctions against the North. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened in recent years as Kim has accelerated his weapons buildup and aligned with Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Kim’s comments came as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed for New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly, where he is expected to address nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula and call on North Korea to return to talks.

Trump is also expected to visit South Korea next month to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, prompting media speculation that he may try to meet Kim at the inter-Korean border, as they did during their third meeting in 2019, which ultimately failed to salvage their nuclear diplomacy.

During his latest speech at the Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim reiterated that he would never give up his nuclear weapons program, which experts say he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival and the extension of his family’s dynastic rule.

“The world already knows well what the United States does after forcing other countries to give up their nuclear weapons and disarm,” Kim said. “We will never lay down our nuclear weapons … There will be no negotiations, now or ever, about trading anything with hostile countries in exchange for lifting sanctions.”

He said he still holds “good personal memories” of Trump from their first meetings and that there is “no reason not to” resume talks with the United States if Washington “abandons its delusional obsession with denuclearization.”

Kim has stepped up testing activities in recent years, demonstrating weapons of various ranges designed to strike U.S. allies in Asia and the U.S. mainland. Analysts say Kim’s nuclear push is aimed at eventually pressuring Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.

Kim is also trying to bolster his leverage by strengthening cooperation with traditional allies Russia and China, in an emerging partnership aimed at undercutting U.S. influence.

He has sent thousands of troops and huge supplies of military equipment to Russia to help support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. He visited Beijing earlier this month, sharing the spotlight with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin at a massive military parade. Experts say Kim’s rare foreign trip was likely intended to boost his leverage ahead of a potential resumption of talks with the United States.

There’s growing concern in Seoul that it could lose its voice in future efforts to defuse the nuclear standoff on the peninsula, as the North seeks to negotiate directly with the United States. Such fears were amplified last year when Kim declared that he was abandoning North Korea’s long-standing goal of peaceful unification with South Korea and ordered a rewriting of the North’s constitution to cement the South as a permanent enemy.

Presenting a case to the officials, leading the drills in practice and vocally kicking the locker room garbage can to spur on teammates come to mind when you think of a hockey team captain.

For Minnesota Gophers senior defenseman Cal Thomas, none of those images seem to fit. And yet, his unique style of leadership has the Maple Grove product wearing a ‘C’ on his sweater for the second consecutive season. The way he conducts his business is perfect for the Gophers’ needs, per coach Bob Motzko.

“Communication can be talk, but it can also be your energy level and how you get dirty. You jump in the mud and play,” Motzko said. “He jumps in the mud every day and is not afraid to play. That sends a message. So leadership comes in all forms. Sometimes that’s the best way, too.”

Gophers defenseman Cal Thomas celebrates scoring his lone goal of the 2024-25 season at home against Notre Dame on Jan. 17, 2025. (Brad Rempel / Gopher Athletics)

Thomas, 22, heads into his final season of college hockey after what was his most challenging campaign, physically and mentally.

While the Gophers eked out a share of the Big Ten regular season title and advanced to the NCAA playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, Thomas missed 13 games with ankle injuries. Amid the ailments, which included separate injuries to both ankles at different points in the season, he posted a goal and eight assists in 27 games.

“It’s really just hard mentally. You play through injuries, everybody’s playing through injuries. But coming back and then injuring the other ankle right after, that was kind of the hard part for me,” Thomas said. “You learn a lot through those experiences, though, and I think it makes you tougher in the long run.”

Learning from elders

Drafted by the Utah Mammoth in 2021 when they were still known as the Arizona Coyotes, Thomas has attended NHL development camps in Phoenix and Salt Lake City.

His game is one of relentless attention to defensive details. It comes from his work on the ice at Maple Grove High School and with Sioux Falls in the USHL.

But college hockey was an immediate educational experience when he joined a superbly talented U blue line crew as a freshman in 2022 and got to watch and learn from current NHLers like Anaheim’s Jackson Lacombe, Buffalo’s Ryan Johnson and Brock Faber of the Wild. Along with their obvious talent, Thomas learned from watching that trio’s daily routines.

“They were pros while they were here, and you got to see that every day. Be the first one here, and they’re taking care of their body and on the ice after every practice,” Thomas said. “Ryan Johnson ran himself through the same drills, and he was the best skater on the ice before. He did them every single day. And then he was the last one in the showers, and then he goes upstairs and he goes and shoots pucks for an hour. It was unbelievable to watch all those guys and their preparation.”

Now skating with the Wild in training camp, Mike Koster played alongside Thomas on the Gophers’ blue line for three seasons and was a co-captain last season. He said it has been fun to see Thomas emerge from the shadows of older defensive partners and grow into a leadership role.

“He’s one of those guys where, when he does talk, everyone listens,” Koster said. “I know him as more of a talker, because I sat next to him for three years. He’s the best guy ever, and it’s kind of one of those things where when you come in, you get accustomed to the room and stuff and feel welcome. It was kind of nice that I saw him come out of the shell first.”

Last season’s injuries were surely one factor in the ultimate results for a Gophers team that finished 25-11-4 and hung another conference title banner, but won just two of its final six games and went one-and-done in the national tournament.

Well accustomed to the bumps and bruises that come with playing defense at a high level, Thomas can look back with some humor at one of the ankle injuries, which was due to a clumsy play.

“You know your body’s gonna take a beating, and as it was, I fell into the wall on my own. So I can’t really blame anybody else but myself for that one,” he said. “You come back stronger.”

Motzko rarely comments on his team’s schedule, but admits the Gophers face a gauntlet from the opening faceoff on Oct. 3, with series versus Michigan Tech, Boston College, North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth, followed by a Big Ten opener at Wisconsin all before the Halloween decorations come down.

Having a defensive stalwart like Thomas playing at 100% is expected to be key for Minnesota.

“He’s healthy. What he battled with last year, he was hobbling on one leg almost the whole year last year,” Motzko said. “You can see he feels free again. He’s got the handcuffs off.”

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