Man gets life sentence over Trump assassination try

International

A 59-YEAR-OLD man has been sentenced to life in prison for attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September 2024.

Ryan Routh was convicted last year of trying to kill then presidential candidate Trump.

A U.S. Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel protruding from nearby bushes and opened fire, prompting Routh to flee. He was arrested shortly afterward.

In her sentencing memorandum, Judge Aileen Cannon wrote that Routh’s actions “undeniably warrant a life sentence,” noting he had spent months planning to kill a major presidential candidate and showed no remorse.

Routh, a North Carolina native who lived in Hawaii prior to his arrest, represented himself during the trial, which began on September 8, 2025. Throughout the proceedings, he behaved erratically, including making references to Adolf Hitler, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and challenging Trump to a golf match.

Federal agents recovered a semiautomatic rifle with a scope and extended magazine near Routh’s hiding spot. Investigators also found a list of locations where Trump was likely to appear and a note to a friend labeling the incident “an assassination attempt.”

During the trial, lead prosecutor John Shipley emphasized the “mountain of evidence” demonstrating how close Routh came to carrying out his plan. After being found guilty, Routh attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen before U.S. marshals removed him from the courtroom.

The West Palm Beach attack was the second attempt on Trump’s life in 2024. In July, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one person and wounding several others, including Trump. Crooks was killed by officers at the scene. (Adriane Josef E. Cabase, USJ-R Comm Intern)