A man convicted of trying to kill President Donald Trump while golfing in south Florida has been sentenced to life in prison.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 59, was convicted of attempting to assassinate President Trump at one of his West Palm Beach golf courses in the fall of 2024.
A federal jury convicted Routh on September 23 of attempting to kill the then-presidential candidate at Trump International Golf Club. A Secret Service agent found the gun and fired at Routh, who chased him away.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for Routh, a North Carolina native.
Routh’s attorney suggested the prison sentence for the crime was sufficient because no one was injured in the scuffle, but prosecutors disagreed.
The incident occurred on September 15, 2024, just months after a bullet grazed Trump’s ear in another attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Jurors found Routh guilty of assault on a federal officer and several other firearms offenses, including attempted assassination, which alone carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Prosecutors say an assassination attempt was narrowly averted, but Routh suggested his actions were a peaceful protest, the USA TODAY Network’s Palm Beach Post reported. During his trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Routh told jurors that he did not have the ability to pull the trigger and that his only crime was “caring too much.”
“Simply carrying a weapon in the presence of another person is unintentional,” said Routh, who fired his lawyer and represented himself ahead of the trial.
After being found guilty, Routh attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen. Routh had asked U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon for “just punishment” in hopes of avoiding a life sentence.
This is a developing story.
Contributor: Hannah Phillips, Palm Beach Post, Part of the USA TODAY Network
Natalie Neisa Alland is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at X @nataliealund.
