Routh Found Guilty in Plot to Assassinate Trump on Florida Golf Course

A federal jury convicted Ryan Routh on all counts related to an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a campaign stop at a Florida golf club last year. After a two-week trial, seven women and five men deliberated for about two hours before finding the 59-year-old North Carolina construction worker guilty on every count, including attempting to kill a major presidential candidate and possessing firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Prosecutors said Routh spent weeks plotting to kill Trump as the candidate played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at Trump’s West Palm Beach country club. They described him as outfitting himself with a rifle and taking a position behind shrubbery along the route Trump would take toward the sixth-hole green, aiming to shoot as the candidate appeared on the course. A Secret Service agent protecting Trump testified that he spotted Routh before Trump came into view and opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee. Authorities said a witness who testified to seeing a man running from the area after the gunshots was flown by helicopter to a nearby interstate, where Routh was ultimately arrested. The gun was recovered, and investigators noted it was operable.

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. He told jurors during his closing that he did not intend to kill anyone that day, arguing that because the trigger was never pulled, there was no crime. He noted that Trump was visible on the fairway and that his actions could have harmed someone, including a Secret Service agent guarding the candidate.

Cannon signed an order allowing Routh to represent himself after two July hearings, a decision that drew attention because the U.S. Supreme Court has held that defendants may represent themselves if they are competent to waive counsel. Popular readings in the case noted that Routh’s standby defense attorneys remained active and observed trial as he declined to testify in his own defense. He rested his case after questioning just three witnesses, including a firearms expert and two character witnesses, for a total of about three hours; prosecutors spent seven days questioning 38 witnesses over the course of the trial.

The judge postponed sentencing to December 18 at 9:30 a.m. and warned that Routh faces life in prison if convicted on all counts. Routh’s attorneys did not comment after the verdict, and prosecutors did not request a specific sentence beyond seeking a punishment consistent with the gravity of attempting to harm a presidential candidate. The case underscores the federal government’s emphasis on prosecuting political violence and the lengths to which federal investigators pursued an operation that targeted a major national figure.

Trump himself weighed in after news of the verdict, telling reporters in New York that the case was “really well-handled” and that such plots must be stopped to protect public figures and the country’s democratic process. Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a post on X, said the guilty verdict demonstrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to punishing political violence and noted that an assassination attempt against a president is an attack on the nation as a whole.

Routh’s background, as detailed in court and in prior reporting, includes a long history of erratic behavior and run-ins with the law. A North Carolina native, he described himself in multiple interviews as a mercenary leader with a decades-long interest in international conflict. He had previously become known in Greensboro for a 2002 confrontation with law enforcement during which he eluded a traffic stop and barricaded himself with a weapon described by police as a “weapon of mass destruction,” ultimately an explosive device with a long fuse. In 2010, authorities searched a warehouse he owned and found more than 100 stolen items, including power tools and boats, though judges gave him probation or suspended sentences in related felony cases.

In the months leading up to the Florida incident, Routh moved from state to state, including Hawaii, and he cultivated a public persona as a self-styled mercenary leader who spoke about dangerous, combat-oriented aims and recruitment plans to involve supporters around global conflicts. The Florida case also touched on broader questions about security at political events, the role of Secret Service agents in rapidly identifying and neutralizing threats, and the challenges of defending a candidate who had already faced a closely watched security environment during the 2024 campaign season.

The announcement comes nine weeks after another attempt on Trump’s life earlier in 2024, when a gunman fired multiple shots at him in Butler, Pennsylvania. That assailant was killed by a Secret Service counter sniper, and Trump condemned the incident, saying he would not be deterred from campaigning. The Florida verdict adds a separate, federal dimension to the country’s ongoing political-security discourse and illustrates how federal prosecutors pursue charges tied to violent plots against the presidency.

As sentencing approaches, the case may continue to shape discussions in Congress and the executive branch about improving threat assessment protocols, the resources available to federal law enforcement in protecting high-profile targets, and the balance between due process and rapid, decisive action in cases involving potential violence against national leaders.