Man sentenced to life for trying to assassinate Trump

Ryan Routh, accused of hiding with a semi-automatic rifle in the bushes of a golf course in Florida to try to assassinate Donald Trump less than two months before the 2024 US elections that brought him back to the presidency, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a judge.

Routh, 59, was convicted by a jury last September of five counts, including attempted assassination, after serving as his own defense attorney at the trial.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon imposed the sentence in Fort Pierce, Florida.

While prosecutors recommended a life sentence, Routh requested a 27-year prison sentence from the judge appointed by Trump.

Prosecutors said in a court filing that Routh’s crimes “undeniably warrant a life sentence” because he had been planning the assassination for months, was prepared to kill anyone who stood in his way, and had expressed neither remorse nor remorse.

In a court filing, Routh denied intending to kill Trump and said he was willing to receive psychological treatment in prison for his personality disorder.

Routh argued that jurors were misled about the facts of the case because of his failure to mount a proper legal defense at trial.

Routh, who most recently resided in Hawaii after previously living in North Carolina at the time of his arrest, was also found guilty of three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and obstructing a federal officer during his arrest.

Secret Service agents spotted Routh hiding in bushes a few hundred yards from where Trump was playing golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

Routh fled the scene and left behind an assault-style rifle but was later arrested.

The incident occurred two months after Trump was grazed by a bullet fired by a gunman at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Both events took place ahead of the November 2024 election, in which Trump regained the presidency after losing to Democrat Joe Biden four years ago.

Republican Trump turned the assassination attempts into a campaign issue, saying the US Justice Department under Biden could not be trusted with investigations.

Prosecutors said Routh arrived in South Florida about a month before the incident, stayed at a truck stop and followed Trump’s movements and schedule.

According to evidence at trial, Routh carried six mobile phones and used false names to conceal his identity. Prosecutors said he lurked in thick bushes for about 10 hours the day of the incident.

Investigators at the scene found the assault-style rifle, two bags containing bulletproof vest-like metal plates, and a video camera pointed at the golf course.

Routh pleaded not guilty in the case but fired his lawyers and chose to represent himself at trial despite having no formal legal training.

His meandering opening statement touched on topics such as the origin of the human species and the settlement of the American West before he was interrupted by Cannon, who warned him not to subject himself to ridicule in the courtroom.

Routh’s defense strategy focused on what he described as his nonviolent nature, but he backed down little as a parade of law enforcement witnesses detailed the evidence in the case.

Prosecutor John Shipley told jurors that Routh’s plan was “carefully prepared and extremely serious,” adding that without the Secret Service’s intervention, “Donald Trump would not be alive.”

After the jury read the verdict, Routh tried to stab himself several times with a pen and had to be restrained by US marshals.

His daughter screamed in court that her father had not harmed anyone and that she would get him out of prison.

“This was a bad guy with bad intentions and they got him,” Trump wrote in a post on the site Truth Social, praising the decision.