Man who tried to kill Trump at golf course found guilty of all charges, faces lifetime in jail

The jury on Tuesday convicted the man who tried to kill US President Donald Trump at his golf course last year. He is likely to spend the rest of his life in jail.

Ryan Routh, 59, was charged with five counts: attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, possessing a firearm and ammunition as a felon, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Routh will be sentenced on December 18. The attempted assassination carries the maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Maximum penalties for other charges are in the range of 5-20 years.

After the guilty verdict was pronounced, Routh tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen, CNN reported a witness in the court as saying.

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Routh tried to shoot Trump at his Florida golf course on September 15, 2024, in the second attempt on his life during the 2024 presidential election campaign. As he aimed at Trump, a Secret Service agent spotted the rifle poking through the tree line and fired at him. Routh dropped the rifle and fled the scene before he could take a shot at Trump. He was arrested later that day.

What witnesses told court

Witnesses told the court that Routh was “stalking” Trump and collecting both “physical and electronic evidence”, according to CNN.

An FBI witness said that cellphone data showed Routh “in the vicinity” of the golf club for weeks before the incident, including on Sept. 2 for 16 hours. A Google account on one of Routh’s burner phones showed he searched for ‘Trump’s upcoming rallies’ and ‘Palm Beach traffic cameras’, according to prosecutors.

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They also said that Routh had charted out his escape plan. They said he had got multiple license plates, three aliases, and had googled “directions to Miami airport” and “flights to Mexico". They said his text messages showed he told a friend in Mexico that he “may see you Monday” — the day after he would have shot Trump. Prosecutors further said that he further searched hospitals in the area and instructions on how to make a tourniquet.

Final argument boiled down to intent

In closing argument, the prosecutor and defence focussed on the intent versus result debate.

In closing argument that he himself delivered, Routh said that the assassination was “never going to happen”.

“If the attempted assassination was not taken, it is not an attempt. There was no intent,” said Routh, as per CNN.

However, prosecutors implied that there was intent to kill as Routh “obsessively stalked and tracked his intended victim” and planned his assassination attempt “meticulously and obsessively”. They highlighted that the crime does not have to be “completed” to convict in case of an attempted assassination. They said that nobody has to be shot as the intent to shoot is the deciding factor.