Would-Be Trump Assassin Found Guilty on All Counts

A man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump last year at his Florida golf course was found guilty on Tuesday. The jury of five men and seven women found Ryan Routh guilty on all counts that he was facing after two hours of deliberation, the AP reports. Routh had been 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, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, represented himself at the federal trial in Florida, reports CNN.

Prosecutors said Routh spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through shrubbery as the Republican candidate played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club.

• 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 sixth-hole green at the golf course and noted that he also could have shot a Secret Service agent who confronted him if he had intended to harm anyone.
• Routh, 59, 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 character witnesses—for a total of about three hours. In contrast, prosecutors spent seven days questioning 38 witnesses.
• The witnesses included two brothers who said Routh sent them a box containing wires, pipes, and bullets months before the assassination attempt, the Guardian reports. They said they opened the box after his arrest and found a letter that said, "This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job."
• US District Judge Aileen Cannon signed off on Routh's request to represent himself following two hearings in July. When the trial began, she cut his opening statement short after multiple objections to his philosophical musings.