The man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last year was found guilty by a jury Tuesday.
Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested in September 2024 after a Secret Service agent spotted him in some bushes near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Trump was campaigning for president. Ruth, who was found with a rifle, was charged with the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and weapons violations. A jury found him guilty on all five counts, two of which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Shortly after the verdict was read, Routh attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen but was wrestled out of the courtroom by court officers, NBC News reported. As he was being dragged away, his daughter Sara Routh, who was in the courtroom, shouted, “Dad I love you, don’t do anything. I’ll get you out. He didn’t hurt anybody,” according to The Associated Press.
Despite having no legal background, Routh represented himself at trial and called only three witnesses: a sniper instructor and two of his former employees. Judge Aileen M. Cannon, citing lack of relevance, cut off Routh multiple times while he was delivering his opening statement and questioning witnesses.
Trump was golfing at the fifth hole at the time of Routh’s arrest, according to the Secret Service agent who first saw him. The weapon found by agents had a scope attached, an extended magazine and an “obliterated and unreadable” serial number, according to the FBI. In the DOJ statement announcing the charges, the FBI said agents also found documents including a handwritten list of dates where Trump was scheduled to appear.
A witness informed law enforcement that Routh dropped off a box with him that contained a handwritten letter that said, “Dear World … This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you,” according to the DOJ’s press release.
“No one ever intended to kill anyone,” Routh argued in court, and said the only thing he was guilty of was caring “deeply for this country.” The incident was the second attempt on Trump’s life last year. Trump survived an earlier assassination attempt in July during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a bullet grazed his ear. “This was an evil man with an evil intention, and they caught him,” Trump responded on Truth Social after the verdict, adding, “A very big moment for JUSTICE IN AMERICA!” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that “this attempted assassination was not only an attack on our President, but an affront to our very nation itself.”
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
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