Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Plotting to Kill Trump
The ruling was handed down by US District Judge Aileen M. Cannon in Fort Pierce, Florida, who imposed a sentence of life imprisonment plus an additional 84 months. The punishment followed Routh’s conviction by a federal jury on all five counts in the indictment, according to the Justice Department. Those charges included attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assault on a federal officer, and multiple firearms violations.
“Ryan Routh’s heinous attempted assassination of President Trump was not only an attack on our president – it was a direct assault against our entire democratic system,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
Prosecutors said the 59-year-old defendant carefully tracked Trump’s movements and lay in wait for hours in thick shrubbery outside the West Palm Beach resort. Armed with a scoped semi-automatic rifle, Routh allegedly positioned the weapon through a fence line. A Secret Service agent spotted the rifle barrel and fired, prompting Routh to flee the area before Trump was visible. Authorities later captured him on a nearby highway.
Court proceedings revealed erratic behavior from Routh, who at one point chose to represent himself. During those sessions, he delivered disjointed statements referencing Adolf Hitler, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, until the judge intervened and halted the remarks. After the jury returned guilty verdicts, Routh attempted to stab himself with a pen inside the courtroom.
Investigators said Routh had become deeply preoccupied with the war in Ukraine prior to the attack. Multiple media outlets reported that he traveled to the country and tried to recruit Afghan nationals who had fled the Taliban to fight on Ukraine’s behalf. He also publicly endorsed the assassination of Putin, according to court filings.
The New York Times highlighted what it described as his “penchant for violent rhetoric,” citing an X post in which Routh said he was willing to “go to the border of Ukraine to volunteer and fight and die.”
The attempted assassination occurred just weeks after Trump survived another attack in Butler, Pennsylvania. In that earlier incident, Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at a campaign rally, grazing Trump’s ear with a bullet and killing one attendee before he was shot and killed by a Secret Service detail.
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