A man charged with trying to assassinate Donald Trump when he was running for president in 2024 is set to be sentenced in a Florida courtroom Wednesday. Last fall, a jury convicted Ryan Routh for his planned attempt on Trump's life when the then-presidential candidate was golfing at his club in West Palm Beach. Prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to impose a life sentence.
Routh's planned attack came just two months after Trump survived another assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. In that incident, Thomas Crooks fired several shots from a semi-automatic rifle, wounding Trump on his right ear. Crooks was shot and killed at the scene by a Secret Service agent.
In September 2024, a Secret Service agent saw a man he later identified as Routh holding a semi-automatic rifle hidden in the tree line at Trump International in West Palm Beach. The agent accosted and then fired on Routh, who fled in his car and was arrested a short time later.
In a two-and-a-half-week-long trial last fall, prosecutors spent seven days detailing Routh's activities in the weeks before the planned sniper attack. They said Routh, a former roofing contractor, traveled from North Carolina to West Palm Beach. Using cell phone data and license plate readers, investigators tracked his movements as he scouted locations while living in his vehicle at a truck stop.
Routh's defense case, by contrast, took just a few hours. In the months before the trial, he had a series of disagreements with his federal public defenders, and Judge Cannon allowed him to represent himself in court. Routh presented just three witnesses and a disjointed, ineffective defense. He told the jury that he was a peaceful and non-violent person who lacked the "cold heart" needed to kill someone. It took the jury two hours to find him guilty on all charges.
In court, when the verdict was read, Routh attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen before being subdued by federal marshals. Afterwards, in a series of erratic court filings, Routh apologized to the judge for what he called "the nuisance of the trial." Referring to his attempt to stab himself when the verdict was read, he wrote, "just a quarter inch further back and we all would not have to deal with all this mess."
Prosecutors want the judge to impose a life sentence. At Routh's request, Judge Cannon appointed a new attorney to represent him at sentencing. In a court filing, Routh's lawyer cites his client's ineffectual defense, his mental health and his age — Routh is 60 years old — and asks for a reduced sentence of 27 years.
No witnesses or evidence will be introduced at the sentencing hearing. Other than the lawyers, the only other person expected to speak in court will be Routh. It's perhaps his last opportunity to express remorse, explain his conduct and ask for leniency.
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