Ryan Wesley Routh has been sentenced to life in prison for attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at one of his golf courses in Florida in 2024, after a federal judge rejected his request for leniency.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon handed down the sentence on Tuesday (3 February), four months after a jury convicted the 59-year-old of attempted assassination, assaulting a federal officer and multiple firearms offences.
The attempted assassination charge alone carried a potential life sentence.
The plot was foiled on 15 September, 2024, at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, where Trump was playing at the time.
Prosecutors said a U.S. Secret Service agent spotted Routh hiding in shrubbery near the sixth hole, aiming a semiautomatic rifle towards the course as Trump teed off at the fifth hole. The agent fired at Routh, who fled but was later arrested during a traffic stop near Palm City, Florida.
Investigators said Routh had brought a GoPro camera and a handwritten list of Trump’s scheduled public appearances. Prosecutors described the incident as a narrowly averted assassination attempt.
Routh, originally from North Carolina, claimed throughout his trial that he never intended to pull the trigger and characterised his actions as a form of protest. Representing himself after dismissing his lawyers, he told jurors he was guilty only of “caring too much”.
Prosecutors countered by presenting Routh’s private writings, text messages and internet searches, which they said showed clear intent to kill the then Republican presidential nominee.
“There are many legitimate ways to oppose a presidential candidate,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley told the court. “Murder is not one of them.”
Following his conviction in September 2024, Routh attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen in the courtroom before U.S. marshals restrained him.
Ahead of sentencing, he asked the judge for a “just punishment” in hopes of avoiding a life term and later filed a motion requesting placement in a prison located in a state that allows assisted suicide.
The case came just months after another attempt on Trump’s life, when a bullet grazed his ear during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Routh will spend the remainder of his life in federal prison.
The president and chief executive of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Børge Brende, announced on Thursday (26 February) that he is stepping down, week...
Ukrainian and U.S. officials gathered in Geneva for talks on post-war reconstruction on Thursday (26 February) despite a deadlock in peace negotiation...
Chinese courts sentenced more than 41,000 people in 2025 in cases involving telecom and online fraud after suspects were repatriated from northern Mya...
The situation in Cuba was heating up and called for restraint following a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of th...
Several countries have begun pulling out diplomatic staff out of Iran and telling their citizens to leave or avoid travelling to parts of the Middle E...
Ukrainian and U.S. officials gathered in Geneva for talks on post-war reconstruction on Thursday (26 February) despite a deadlock in peace negotiations with Russia, which pounded infrastructure across Ukraine with drone and missile strikes overnight.
Chinese courts sentenced more than 41,000 people in 2025 in cases involving telecom and online fraud after suspects were repatriated from northern Myanmar, according to the Supreme People’s Court. Authorities also executed 16 individuals linked to major cross-border fraud networks.
Further Iran-U.S. nuclear talks are taking place in Geneva on Thursday (26 February) as diplomacy resumes over Tehran’s nuclear programme following earlier mediation efforts. But will the indirect talks move Iran-U.S. negotiations closer to a deal, and what should be expected from the meeting?
The situation in Cuba was heating up and called for restraint following a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of the Caribbean island, the Kremlin said on Thursday (26 February).
Four years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war can be measured not only in lives and territory, but in money. In Part One, the war’s cost was measured in casualties and kilometres. In Part Two, it is measured in billions of dollars.
A F-16 fighter jet of the Turkish Air Force crashed near a highway in western Türkiye early on Wednesday (25 February), killing its pilot, officials and media reports confirmed.
Newcastle United secured a 3–2 victory over Qarabağ FK in the return leg of the UEFA Champions League play-offs at St James’ Park.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz agreed on Wednesday in Beijing to strengthen economic cooperation while addressing trade imbalances, market access concerns, and the war in Ukraine, during Merz’s first official visit to China since taking office.
Ukraine signalled its readiness for fast-track European Union membership in Kyiv on Tuesday (24 February), as European leaders pledged continued political and financial backing and insisted Russia would gain nothing at the negotiating table.
The president and chief executive of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Børge Brende, announced on Thursday (26 February) that he is stepping down, weeks after the organisation launched an independent investigation into his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Ukrainian and U.S. officials gathered in Geneva for talks on post-war reconstruction on Thursday (26 February) despite a deadlock in peace negotiations with Russia, which pounded infrastructure across Ukraine with drone and missile strikes overnight.
Chinese courts sentenced more than 41,000 people in 2025 in cases involving telecom and online fraud after suspects were repatriated from northern Myanmar, according to the Supreme People’s Court. Authorities also executed 16 individuals linked to major cross-border fraud networks.
The situation in Cuba was heating up and called for restraint following a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of the Caribbean island, the Kremlin said on Thursday (26 February).
The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF said on Thursday (25 February) it was deeply concerned by reports that Myanmar military air strikes this week had killed at least five children and dozens of civilians, as fighting intensified across the country.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment