Ryan Routh convicted in attempted assassination of Trump : NPR

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A federal jury determined Ryan Routh was guilty Tuesday of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump last year at his South Florida golf course.

Jurors convicted him on all five counts, including attempted assassination and weapons violations. Even though the rifle was never fired that day, federal lawyers say Routh had “intent” and made a “substantial step in the alleged attempt.” He faces up to life in prison when he’s sentenced on December 18.

After the guilty verdicts were read but before jurors had departed, Routh attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen. But several U.S. Marshals quickly subdued him. Routh’s daughter, Sara, who was in the courtroom, began shouting, “Dad, I love you. Don’t do anything.” She yelled a few expletives and continued, “He didn’t hurt anybody. This is not fair,” she said.

Federal prosecutors rested their case last Friday after spending a total of seven days presenting 38 witnesses. They detailed what they say was Routh’s planned attack against the then-GOP presidential candidate as he golfed at his West Palm Beach club on September 15, 2024.

“This verdict sends a clear message. An attempt to assassinate a presidential candidate is an attack on our Republic and on the rights of every citizen,” said Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche in a statement. “The Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue those who try to silence political voices, and no enemy, foreign or domestic, will ever silence the will of the American people.”

The verdict came after a trial that took two-and-a-half weeks, proceeding quicker than prosecutors and U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon anticipated. The main reason was that Routh, acting as his own attorney, spent relatively little time cross-examining prosecution witnesses and called just three people to testify in his defense.

His defense, which took just a few hours, came after a prosecution case that lasted seven days and called 38 witnesses.

Judge Cannon cautioned Routh as he prepared to deliver his closing argument Tuesday that he would have to restrict his remarks to evidence introduced at the trial. But he repeatedly flouted those judicial guidelines, prompting objections from the prosecution and a warning from the judge.

Routh tried to explain to the jury why he offered such a limited defense. He said he wanted to subpoena twenty witnesses and introduce 500 exhibits, but rulings by the court prevented that. That led Judge Cannon to temporarily halt the proceedings and issue Routh a stern warning.

In his closing, Routh told the jury the case was about “intent and whether someone can actually pull the trigger and take someone’s life.” Acting as his own lawyer and referring to himself as “the defendant,” Routh suggested to jurors that he had actually planned an attempt on Trump’s life while the then-presidential candidate was golfing on the 5th hole, 375 yards from the sniper’s hiding place. “The opportunity was there and the trigger was not pulled, “he said. “The crime was not committed.”

Routh said he wasn’t capable of taking someone’s life. “Mere planning of something is not intent,” he said. “It is only a dream, a fantasy,” one he never intended to execute.

In his closing, prosecutor Christopher Browne methodically walked jurors through the trove of evidence of what he said were Routh’s plans to assassinate Trump. On the question of Routh’s intent, Browne said, “Why did he take these actions? Why did he load this rifle if his intent was not to kill?” In the rebuttal, prosecutor John Shipley reminded the jury that no one needs to be shot and no weapon needs to be fired for a charge of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.

In his opening, Shipley told jurors Routh wanted to ensure that voters would not be able to elect Donald Trump as president in 2024. “The defendant decided to take the choice away from the American voters,” he said. The plot Routh is charged with, he said, “was carefully crafted and deadly serious.”

Former Secret Service agent Robert Fercano, now with the Department of Homeland Security, said he foiled Routh’s alleged attempt to shoot Trump. Fercano testified about his encounter with a man he first saw as a “face in the bushes” as Trump was golfing.

As he scanned the 6th hole of the golf course, ahead of where Trump was playing, he told the court, “I encountered what appeared to be the face of an individual (and) the barrel of a weapon protruding from the fence line.”

Fercano testified he got off his golf cart and said, “Hey sir!” At first, he said, he thought he was possibly encountering a homeless person and there wasn’t an imminent threat. In response, he said, “I heard what appeared to be a groan and the subject smiled at me.”

At about the same time, Fercano told jurors he saw a gun barrel protruding from the fence line, which moved toward him as he backed away. He says he also noticed ballistic “bulletproof vest” plates positioned on the fence. Fercano, an ex-Marine and trained marksman, said, “This appeared to be a textbook ambush scenario.”

Another prosecution witness, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Kimberly McGreevy spent hours on the stand over two days. She detailed evidence that tracked Routh’s activities a month prior to the attempted shooting.

McGreevy drew on data from Routh’s cell phones — he had six of them — and surveillance camera video to track his movements. The agent testified that the accused moved between Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s golf club, the airport where the president keeps his plane and a truck stop where Routh was living in his SUV.

The FBI agent said that during that time, “He was living at that truck stop, conducting physical and electronic surveillance … and stalking the former president.”

McGreevy also detailed Routh’s alleged purchase of the SKS-style rifle seized at the golf course by federal agents and his attempt to buy a more powerful weapon.

According to McGreevy’s testimony, Routh sent a text to his girlfriend in Hawaii, asking, “How many bullets does an SKS rifle hold? An AK-47 can shoot to 500 meters. I have to get to 400.”

Judge Cannon agreed to allow Routh to represent himself in the trial after hearings and motions in which he said he was unhappy with his court-appointed lawyers.

In his defense, he called two character witnesses (who discussed examples of what Routh said were his “peacefulness, gentleness and non-violence”) and a gun expert. Michael McClay, an ex-Marine sniper, was presented to discuss a sniper’s tactics and positioning.

McClay said that when he test-fired the SKS-style rifle left at the scene several months after Routh’s arrest, it malfunctioned. The gun fired — but the second round in the magazine repeatedly jammed. Prosecutors attributed that to the effects of acid used by investigators to recover the gun’s obliterated serial numbers.

Other testimony from McClay was less helpful to Routh’s defense. The ex-Marine sniper visited the golf course and surveyed the area around the 6th hole where prosecutors say, “a sniper’s hide” was set up just outside the fence. McClay told the court it offered what he called “a clear shot” to the 6th hole where Trump was soon to arrive.

Routh then asked about whether the gun would be effective firing at the 5th hole, where Trump was golfing at the time, an area much farther away. “Depending on the skill of the shooter,” McClay said, “yes.”

Before his arrest, Routh already had a criminal record, including a 2002 conviction in North Carolina for possessing an explosive device. He spent much of his life in North Carolina before moving to Hawaii. He was a strong supporter of Ukraine following the invasion by Russian troops. He has said he backed Trump for president in 2016 and regrets that decision.

The attempt on Trump’s life was the second that year — following a shooting during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. in July 2024. A gunman, perched on a building rooftop, fired as Trump spoke to supporters. Trump’s ear was struck, and an attendee died. The gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was killed by a Secret Service sniper.