&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Ryan Routh found guilty of trying to assassinate Trump, stabs himself after verdict")
A Florida jury on Tuesday found Ryan Wesley Routh guilty of plotting to kill Donald Trump at his Florida golf club last year. Routh, 59 was convicted of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, a charge carrying a possible sentence of life in prison without parole, as well as assaulting a federal officer and several weapons violations. Routh started stabbing himself in the neck with a pen after the jury found him guilty. Routh had perched himself outside the fence of Trump International Golf Club with a rifle on Sept. 15, 2024, and waited over 11 hours for Trump to arrive, said prosecutors. The plot was foiled by a US Secret Service agent who spotted Routh and opened fire, leading him to drop his rifle and flee. Routh was arrested in less than an hour.
Routh’s capture made international headlines and came nearly two months after Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Earlier this month, conservative activist and close Trump ally Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University.
The trial came to a dramatic end when Routh started stabbing himself in the neck with a pen after a Florida jury found him guilty of attempting to assassinate Trump.
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A one-time Trump supporter, Routh represented himself in a trial marked by outbursts and contentious exchanges between him and Florida-based Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee.
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Routh, who pleaded not guilty, now faces life in prison
Over the course of the speedy 12-day trial, Routh sought to convince the jury he has a “nonviolent” nature and that prosecutors failed to prove he intended to murder Trump.
However, prosecutors presented a plenty of physical evidence, cell phone data and writings that they claimed showed how Routh methodically planned the assassination and was consumed with hate for Trump.
Routh, who had pleaded not guilty to all the charges, now faces life in prison when he is sentenced.
Routh, who served as his own attorney, delivered a brief and disjointed closing argument in which he argued that there was no crime because he never fired a shot at Trump.
Routh meticulously planned to take Trump’s life: Prosecutors
Prosecutors said Routh meticulously planned to take Trump’s life, alleging that he tracked the Republican presidential nominee’s movements and visited Trump’s golf course more than a dozen times.
Texts, writings and physical notes purportedly written by Routh hinted at his desire to kill Trump, prosecutors argued.
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Among the writings was a letter about the assassination attempt that Routh allegedly left with an acquaintance. The letter was addressed “Dear World” and stated, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you.”
A self-titled book apparently written by Routh called readers to “assassinate Trump” in part because of his foreign policy position on Iran. He also wrote that he voted for Trump in 2016, but came to regret that decision after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Routh had a struggling roofing business and a long criminal history. Routh advocated for democracy in Taiwan and suggested in a series of X posts that he had travelled to Ukraine to fight on behalf of the beleaguered country. Routh also used his time before the court to decry violence abroad, speaking about Russian President Vladimir Putin, the war in Ukraine and even Adolf Hitler.
