(Fort Pierce) Ryan Routh, the man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump on his golf course in Florida in September 2024, two months before the presidential election, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.
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Ryan Routh, 59, was convicted in September by a Florida jury of five counts, including attempted assassination of a presidential candidate.
He was sentenced to the maximum penalty incurred, as requested by the prosecution.
“The reasonable sentence in this case is life in prison,” said Judge Aileen Cannon, explaining that she wanted to protect the population from “any future crimes” that Ryan Routh could commit.
At the end of his trial in this federal court, just after the verdict, Ryan Routh attempted to stab himself with a pen. Supervisors intervened to stop him.
Pleading not guilty, Routh defended himself during his trial and said he never intended to hurt Trump or anyone else.
Judge Aileen Cannon authorized him to conduct his own defense, despite his lack of legal training.
Ryan Routh was arrested on September 15, 2024 by agents of the Secret Service, responsible for the protection of senior American political figures, who spotted him with a weapon near the golf course on which Donald Trump was playing.
This was the second assassination attempt against the Republican candidate and future winner of the 2024 presidential election.
Donald Trump narrowly escaped another attempt on July 13, 2024, during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Its author, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, managed to fire several bullets before being shot dead by the Secret Service. The images of Donald Trump, blood streaming down his face and his fist raised, went around the world and the event was considered a key moment of the campaign.
