Trump’s would-be assassin tries to stab himself after guilty verdict
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: Ryan Routh, 59, was found guilty on all charges after a nearly three-week federal trial over an attempted attack at President Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club last year.
The jury deliberated for three hours before returning guilty verdicts on five counts, and Routh tried to harm himself in the courtroom immediately after the verdict was read.
Jury convicts Ryan Routh on five federal counts after golf-course attack
Routh was found guilty of attempted attack of a major presidential candidate; assaulting a federal officer; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence; being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition; and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Immediately after the verdict was read, Routh tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen but was stopped by authorities.
His daughter, Sara Routh, stood and shouted in the courtroom, “Don’t do anything. I will get you out. What the f** f***, he didn’t hurt anybody. This is not fair. This is all rigged – you guys are a*****s,” according to Fox News. The jury remained in the room at the time.
Ryan Routh’s letter reveals failed Trump attack plan
Prosecutors spent much of their closing argument focusing on the digital and forensic evidence they say demonstrated Routh’s clear plan to kill Trump.
"Even though he didn’t kill Trump, he wanted to," prosecutor Chris Brown told jurors, according to CNN. Brown said Routh “obsessively stalked and tracked” the president and planned the attack “meticulously and obsessively.”
Investigators also introduced a letter Routh gave to someone in the months before the attempt that read, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you.”
Prosecutors said a Google account on one of Routh’s burner phones included searches for “Trump’s upcoming rallies” and “Palm Beach traffic areas,” and that phone activity suggested he planned to flee to Mexico after shooting Trump.
Secret Service stopped Ryan Routh after sniper rifle sighting
Routh was arrested on September 15, 2024, after a Secret Service agent spotted him with a sniper rifle. The agent fired one shot before Routh fled and jumped into a black Nissan Xterra.
An eyewitness later helped local officers stop Routh as he headed north on I-95, authorities said. In a book he published, Routh wrote that he voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but later regretted it after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
His online activity before the attack showed an increased focus on the war in Ukraine, and in a late-2024 letter to Politico he wrote that former President Joe Biden “must demand that Israel stop their attacks” on Gaza.
