Ryan Routh is found guilty of trying to assassinate Trump at Florida
golf course
[September 24, 2025]
By DAVID FISCHER
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — After a two-week trial, a jury took just two
hours Tuesday to convict Ryan Routh of trying to assassinate Donald
Trump on a Florida golf course last year, a plot that was undone when a
Secret Service agent spotted Routh and fired a shot that sent him
running.
Chaos ensued in the courtroom shortly after Routh was found guilty on
all counts by a federal jury of seven women and five men. Routh tried to
stab himself in the neck with a pen and officers quickly dragged him
out.
As he was removed, Routh’s daughter, Sara Routh, screamed: “Dad, I love
you, don’t do anything. I’ll get you out. He didn’t hurt anybody.” She
was escorted from the courtroom and later waited outside with her
brother, Adam Routh.
The pen Routh used was flexible, a design to prevent people in custody
from using it as a weapon, according to a person familiar with the
matter who could not publicly disclose details and spoke to The
Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. Routh did not puncture
his skin or otherwise hurt himself, the person said.
After order was restored, Routh was brought before U.S. District Judge
Aileen Cannon. He was shackled and no longer in the jacket and tie he
wore while representing himself at the trial.
Cannon announced Routh will be sentenced on Dec. 18 at 9:30 a.m. He
faces life in prison. Routh's standby defense attorneys did not comment
after the verdict.
Following the verdict, Trump told reporters in New York that the case
was “really well-handled.”
“It’s very important. You can’t let things like that happen. Nothing to
do with me, but a president -- or even a person, you can’t allow that to
happen,” Trump said. “And so justice was served. But I very much
appreciate the judge and jury and everybody on that.”
Assassination attempt was planned
Prosecutors said Routh, 59, spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before
aiming a rifle through shrubbery as the then-Republican presidential
candidate played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country
club.
Just nine weeks earlier, Trump had survived an attempt on his life while
campaigning in Butler, Pennsylvania. That gunman had fired eight shots,
with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear. The gunman was then fatally shot by
a Secret Service counter sniper.
At Routh's trial, Robert Fercano, who was a Secret Service agent helping
protect Trump on the golf course, testified that he spotted Routh before
Trump came into view. Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened
fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and run away without firing a
shot.
Law enforcement obtained help from a witness who testified that he saw a
person fleeing the area after hearing gunshots. The witness was then
flown in a police helicopter to a nearby interstate where Routh was
arrested, and the witness confirmed it was the person he had seen.
Routh was charged with attempting to assassinate a major presidential
candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence,
assaulting a federal officer, possessing a firearm and ammunition as a
convicted felon, and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial
number.
Routh told jurors in his closing argument that he didn’t intend to kill
anyone that day.
“It’s hard for me to believe that a crime occurred if the trigger was
never pulled,” Routh said. He pointed out that he could see Trump as he
was on the path toward the 6th-hole green and noted that he also could
have shot a Secret Service agent if he had intended to harm anyone.
[to top of second column]
|
This courtroom sketch shows Ryan Routh trying to stab himself in the
neck with a pen, after being found guilty of attempting to
assassinate Donald Trump at a Florida golf course last year,
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in Fort Pierce, Fla. (Lothar Speer via AP)
Routh elected to represent himself
Cannon signed off on Routh’s request to represent himself following
two hearings in July. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that criminal
defendants have a right to represent themselves in court
proceedings, as long as they can show a judge they are competent to
waive their right to be defended by an attorney.
Routh’s former defense attorneys served as standby counsel since he
took over his own defense and were present during trial.
Routh exercised his constitutional right not to testify in his own
defense. He rested his case Monday morning after questioning just
three witnesses — a firearms expert and two characters witnesses —
for a total of about three hours. In contrast, prosecutors spent
seven days questioning 38 witnesses.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that the guilty
verdict “illustrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to
punishing those who engage in political violence.”
“This attempted assassination was not only an attack on our
President, but an affront to our very nation,” Bondi said.
What's known of Routh's background
Routh was a North Carolina construction worker who in recent years
had moved to Hawaii. A self-styled mercenary leader, Routh spoke out
to anyone who would listen about his dangerous and sometimes violent
plans to insert himself into conflicts around the world.
In the early days of Russia's war in Ukraine, Routh tried to recruit
soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to fight the Russians.
In his native Greensboro, North Carolina, he was arrested in 2002
for eluding a traffic stop and barricading himself from officers
with a fully automatic machine gun and a “weapon of mass
destruction,” which turned out to be an explosive with a 10-inch
(25-centimeter) fuse, police said.
In 2010, police searched a warehouse Routh owned and found more than
100 stolen items, from power tools and building supplies to kayaks
and spa tubs. In both felony cases, judges gave Routh either
probation or a suspended sentence.
Routh still faces state charges of terrorism and attempted murder
for the plot against Trump.
___
Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in New York and Alanna Durkin
Richer in Washington contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
