Man gets life for 2024 attempt to assassinate Trump on Florida golf course

Ryan Routh, 59, was sentenced to life in prison for allegedly plotting to assassinate Donald Trump on a Florida golf course in September 2024. Prosecutors described a methodical plan to ambush the former presidential candidate at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, and told jurors that he spent weeks arranging the attack.

A Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel protruding from the bushes and fired, forcing Routh to flee before he was arrested nearby. In a sentencing memorandum, Judge Aileen Cannon said the crimes "undeniably warrant a life sentence" because he took steps for months to kill a major presidential candidate and showed no remorse.

Routh, who chose to represent himself at trial, had a history of erratic behavior in court, including challenging Trump to a game of golf and making references to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin. After the verdict, he allegedly attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen as U.S. marshals escorted him from the room.

Investigators recovered a semiautomatic rifle with a scope and an extended magazine at the spot where he had been hiding, and prosecutors said he left behind a list of places where Trump was likely to appear, along with a note for a friend describing the incident. They argued that the ambition to kill Trump was not a spur-of-the-moment act but a plotted course of action spanning weeks.

Routh is a North Carolina native who had lived in Hawaii before his arrest. Prosecutors said he spent weeks planning the attack, while his defense team prepared for appeal. The case underscores security concerns surrounding high-profile political figures and the persistent threat level amid campaigns.

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