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59-year-old Ryan Routh has been sentenced to life in prison for the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at a Florida golf course in September 2024. Routh was found guilty last year of his attempt to kill Trump, then still a presidential candidate, at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
A U.S. Secret Service agent in the area spotted a rifle barrel protruding from the bushes and fired at Routh, who then fled the scene. He was arrested nearby. In a sentencing memorandum, Judge Aileen Cannon said Routh's crimes "unquestionably merit a sentence of life in prison."
Routh pleaded not guilty and chose to represent himself during the trial, which began on September 8. After a jury found him guilty, Routh tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen before U.S. officers quickly escorted him out of the courtroom.
While Routh is not believed to have had a clear line of sight with Trump at any point during the incident, federal agents told jurors that they later found a semi-automatic rifle with a scope and an extended magazine at the spot where he was hiding.
Additionally, jurors were told that Routh left behind a list of places where Trump was likely to appear, as well as a note to a friend describing the incident as "an assassination attempt."
In his closing statement during the trial, Routh spoke in the third person and touched on a wide range of unrelated topics, including U.S. history, the Russia-Ukraine war and his intention to buy a boat. The lead prosecutor in the case, John Shipley, said he was presented with a "mountain of evidence" that shows "how close he was to doing this."
The Florida incident was the second attempt on Trump's life in 2024, after a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
The shooting left one person dead and several injured, including Trump. The shooter, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was killed by officers at the scene.
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