A US judge has sentenced Ryan Routh, 59, to life imprisonment for attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump during an incident at a Florida golf course in September 2024.
Routh was convicted last year of trying to kill Trump, who was then a presidential candidate, at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
According to court records, a US Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel protruding from bushes near the area and fired at Routh. He fled the scene but was later arrested nearby.
In a sentencing memorandum, Judge Aileen Cannon said the crimes “undeniably warrant a life sentence,” adding that Routh spent months planning the attack, showed willingness to kill anyone who stood in his way, and has shown “neither regret nor remorse.”
Routh’s lawyer, Martin Ross, said the defence would appeal the conviction.
Routh pleaded not guilty and chose to represent himself during the trial, which began on 8 September.
Prosecutors described him as erratic in court, with reports that he challenged Trump to a golf game and made references to Adolf Hitler and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After the jury returned a guilty verdict, Routh reportedly attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen before being removed from the courtroom by US marshals.
Although investigators said Routh did not have a clear line of sight to Trump during the incident, federal agents recovered a semiautomatic rifle fitted with a scope and extended magazine from the area where he was hiding.
Jurors also heard that he left behind a list of locations where Trump was expected to appear, along with a note describing the incident as “an assassination attempt.”
The lead prosecutor, John Shipley, said a “mountain of evidence” showed how close Routh came to carrying out the attack.
The Florida incident was the second assassination attempt on Trump in 2024, following a July shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which left one person dead and several wounded, including Trump.
The alleged shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was killed at the scene.
