Man who represented himself is found guilty of trying to assassinate Trump at Florida golf course

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — The man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at a Florida golf course last year tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen shortly after being found guilty of all counts on Tuesday.

Officers quickly swarmed him and dragged him out of the courtroom.

The jury of five men and seven women found Ryan Routh guilty on all counts that he was facing after about two hours of deliberation.

The jurors were on their way out of the courtroom after the verdict was announced when Routh grabbed a pen off a desk and tried to stab himself in the neck.

As marshals were dragging him from the courtroom, Routh’s daughter Sara Routh began screaming, “Dad I love you, don’t do anything. I’ll get you out. He didn’t hurt anybody.”

She continued screaming as her father was taken from the courtroom, saying the case against him was rigged. She went outside the courthouse, where she and her brother Adam Routh waited by a guard gate for their father to be driven away.

Back inside the courtroom, Routh was brought back before the judge. He was no longer wearing a jacket and tie, and was shackled. There were no signs of blood on his shirt. The judge announced Routh will be sentenced on Dec. 18 at 9:30 a.m. He faces life in prison.

The standby defense attorneys for Routh did not have a comment following the verdict.

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. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges and defended himself in court.

Prosecutors said Routh spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through shrubbery as the Republican 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.