Ryan Routh was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for his attempted assassination of Donald Trump during the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election. Routh, who was convicted last September on five counts, received the sentence from US District Judge Aileen Cannon at a hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Routh, who attempted to stab himself in the courtroom after his guilty verdict when he had been representing himself, appeared with counsel for the sentencing. He was allowed to give a lengthy, rambling statement touching on foreign wars and a desire to be exchanged for a foreign political prisoner before Cannon interrupted him. The judge said, “Your plot to kill was deliberate and evil. You are not a peaceful man. You are not a good man,” then imposed life without parole plus seven years on a gun charge; sentences for three other counts will run concurrently.
Defense attorneys had asked for a 20-year term plus seven years. Prosecutors urged a harsher penalty, arguing Routh remains unrepentant, never apologized for endangering lives, and shows near-total disregard for the law.
Routh was convicted of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, using a firearm in furtherance of a crime, assaulting a federal officer, possessing a firearm as a felon, and possessing a gun with a defaced serial number. Prosecutors say the former Trump supporter spent weeks planning the attack and was found by Secret Service agents hiding in bushes at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club on September 15, 2024, with an automatic rifle, waiting as Trump played golf.
Authorities found burner phones, fake identification, body armor, an assault rifle and a video camera; despite that, Routh has claimed he did not intend to kill the candidate. He also volunteered to undergo psychiatric treatment while incarcerated.
Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez