Ryan Routh, who tried to assissinate Trump on golf course, sentenced to life
· Toronto Sun
Ryan Routh, who was accused of hiding in the bushes at a Florida golf course with a semi-automatic rifle to try to assassinate Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 U.S. election, was sentenced by a judge on Wednesday to life in prison.
Routh, a 59-year-old, was convicted by a jury last September of five criminal counts, including attempted assassination after serving as his own defence lawyer at trial.
The sentence was handed down on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Fort Pierce, Fla.
Prosecutors recommended a life sentence. Routh, meanwhile, had asked the judge — a Trump appointee — to impose a 27-year term.
Prosecutors said in a court filing that Routh’s crimes “undeniably warrant a life sentence” because he plotted the assassination for months and was willing to kill anybody who got in the way. He has never shown remorse or regret, according to the filings.
Routh denied that he intended to kill president
In a court filing, Routh denied that he intended to kill Trump. He said he would be willing to undergo psychological treatment for a personality disorder in prison. Routh suggested that jurors were misled about the facts of the case because he was not able to mount a proper legal defence at trial.
At the time of his arrest, Routh resided most recently in Hawaii. He previously lived in North Carolina. He was convicted of three illegal firearm possession charges and one count of impeding a federal officer during his arrest.
Secret Service agents saw Routh hiding in the bushes a few hundred metres from where Trump was golfing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Sept. 15, 2024.
Routh fled the scene and left behind an assault-style rifle, but was later arrested.
The incident happened two months after a bullet fired by a gunman grazed Trump’s ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa.
Both incidents came in the lead-up to the November 2024 election in which Trump regained the presidency after having been defeated four years earlier by Democrat Joe Biden.