FORT PIERCE, Florida: A man who attempted to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump on a Florida golf course on September 15, 2024, was sentenced on February 4 to life in prison.

A federal prosecutor said Ryan Routh's crime was unacceptable "in this country or anywhere."

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon announced Ryan Routh's sentence in the same Fort Pierce courtroom where chaos broke out last September, when Routh tried to stab himself after the jury found him guilty on all charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley told the judge that democracy fails when people try to remove political candidates by violence, and said that is what Routh attempted to do.
Defense lawyer Martin L. Roth argued that at the final moment, Routh chose not to pull the trigger.

The judge disagreed and cited Routh's lengthy arrest record. Roth replied that Routh was a complicated person but had a good side.

Routh then began reading a lengthy 20-page statement that wandered from topic to topic. Judge Cannon interrupted him, said it was not relevant, and allowed him only five more minutes to speak.
Routh said he had done everything he could and had lived a good life before the judge stopped him again.

The judge then said his plan to kill was intentional and evil, and told him he was not a peaceful or good man. She sentenced him to life in prison without the chance of parole, plus seven extra years for a gun charge. His other three sentences will run simultaneously.

On social media platform X, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi thanked prosecutors and said Routh would never be free again. She called his attempted assassination of Trump an attack on both Trump and American democracy.

Routh's sentencing had first been set for December, but it was delayed after he decided to hire a lawyer for sentencing instead of representing himself, as he had done for most of the trial.

He was found guilty of trying to assassinate a major presidential candidate, using a gun during a crime, attacking a federal officer, illegally possessing a firearm as a felon, and having a gun with a scratched-off serial number.

Prosecutors wrote that Routh showed no regret, never apologized for putting lives in danger, and had a long history of ignoring the law.

His lawyer had asked for a 20-year sentence plus the required seven years for the gun charge. Roth said Routh was almost 60 years old and argued that a fair punishment should be long but not so long that he would die in prison without ever being free again.

Prosecutors said Routh spent weeks planning to kill Trump. On September 15, 2024, he hid near Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach and pointed a rifle through the bushes while Trump was playing golf.

At the trial, a Secret Service agent testified that he saw Routh before Trump came into view. Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who fired first. Routh dropped his gun and ran away without shooting.

In a court motion asking for a lawyer, Routh made unusual statements, including offering to trade his life in a prisoner swap and saying Trump could "take out his frustrations" on him. He also wrote that if the bullet had been slightly different, none of this would have happened, and added that he often fails at everything.

When Judge Cannon approved his request for a lawyer, she criticized his motion as disrespectful and said it made a mockery of the court. However, she said she preferred to make sure he had legal representation.