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.
Protesters gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs after Lebanon and Israel signed a framework agreement in Washington aimed at ending fighting betwee...
Germany and Poland are bracing for sweltering conditions as a deadly heatwave that has gripped Western Europe moves east, with temperatures expected t...
Washington and Tehran accuse each other of breaching last week’s ceasefire as tensions rise around the key shipping route....
Rescue teams and residents in Venezuela are continuing to search for survivors after twin earthquakes killed more than 900 people and left thousands i...
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on imports from any country that adopts a digital services tax. The move escalated t...
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on imports from any country that adopts a digital services tax. The move escalated tensions with trading partners over levies that Washington argues unfairly target American technology companies.
Australia booked its place in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 after a tense goalless draw with Paraguay. Already-eliminated Türkiye ended its campaign on a high with a dramatic 3-2 win over group winners the United States.
Burkina Faso has severed diplomatic relations with France, widening a years-long rupture with its former colonial ruler and marking the latest diplomatic break between France and military-led governments in the Sahel.
The United States has seized nearly 400 internet domains accused of illegally streaming World Cup matches, in what officials described as a major effort to disrupt international piracy networks profiting from the tournament’s global popularity.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck Japan's northeast coast on Thursday, but no tsunami warning was issued, no injuries were immediately reported and no irregularities were found at nuclear facilities, the authorities said.
As Western Europe battles a deadly heatwave that has shattered temperature records, disrupted transport and power supplies, and forced the closure of schools and cultural landmarks, attention is turning to whether El Niño is playing a role in the extreme conditions.
The U.S. Senate rejected a resolution on Wednesday that would have directed President Donald Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress formally authorised military action.
The Kremlin has denied a Wall Street Journal report claiming Moscow is pressuring Belarus to support an expanded Russian military campaign in Ukraine.
Tens of thousands of people are still unaccounted for after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela. At least 589 people have been confirmed dead and hundreds are believed to be trapped under rubble, as emergency crews and international rescue teams race to respond.
Germany and Poland are bracing for sweltering conditions as a deadly heatwave that has gripped Western Europe moves east, with temperatures expected to approach 40C over the weekend.
Washington and Tehran accuse each other of breaching last week’s ceasefire as tensions rise around the key shipping route.
Rescue teams and residents in Venezuela are continuing to search for survivors after twin earthquakes killed more than 900 people and left thousands injured.
Burkina Faso has severed diplomatic relations with France, widening a years-long rupture with its former colonial ruler and marking the latest diplomatic break between France and military-led governments in the Sahel.
Sweden discriminated against vulnerable European Union migrants, many of them from the Roma community, by denying them equal access to healthcare, the European Committee of Social Rights has ruled.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment