FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) 鈥 The man who was charged with attempting 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.
The pen Routh used to try to stab himself was a flexible pen designed to prevent people in custody from using it as a weapon, so he did not puncture his skin or otherwise hurt himself, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person could not publicly disclose specific details of the incident and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
As marshals were dragging him from the courtroom, Routh’s daughter Sara Routh began screaming, 鈥淒ad I love you, don鈥檛 do anything. I鈥檒l get you out. He didn鈥檛 hurt anybody.鈥
She continued screaming as her father was taken from the courtroom, saying the case against him was rigged. She was escorted from the courtroom and later waited outside with her brother Adam Routh for the motorcade that took their father away.
Back inside the courtroom, Routh was brought before the judge, no longer wearing a jacket and tie. During the trial, Routh, who was representing himself, was not shackled. But when he was brought before the judge after the attempted stabbing, he wore shackles.
The judge announced Routh will be sentenced on Dec. 18 at 9:30 a.m. He faces life in prison.
Routh’s standby defense attorneys 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.
Following the verdict, Trump told reporters in New York that the case was 鈥渞eally well handled.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 very important. You can鈥檛 let things like that happen. Nothing to do with me, but a president — or even a person, you can鈥檛 allow that to happen,鈥 Trump said. “And so justice was served. But I very much appreciate the judge and jury and everybody on that.鈥
Prosecutors said Routh spent weeks 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鈥檛 intend to kill anyone that day.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for me to believe that a crime occurred if the trigger was never pulled,鈥 Routh said. He pointed out that he could see Trump as he was on the path toward the sixth-hole green at the golf course and noted that he also could have shot a Secret Service agent who confronted him if he had intended to harm anyone.
Routh, 59, exercised his constitutional right not to testify in his own defense. He rested his case Monday morning after questioning just three witnesses 鈥 a firearms expert and two characters witnesses 鈥 for a total of about three hours. In contrast, prosecutors spent seven days questioning 38 witnesses.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that the guilty verdict 鈥渋llustrates the Department of Justice鈥檚 commitment to punishing those who engage in political violence.鈥
鈥淭his attempted assassination was not only an attack on our President, but an affront to our very nation,鈥 Bondi said.
鈥淭his 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,鈥 Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. 鈥淭he 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.鈥
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon signed off on Routh鈥檚 request to following two hearings in July. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that criminal defendants have a right to represent themselves in court proceedings, as long as they can show a judge they are competent to waive their right to be defended by an attorney. Routh鈥檚 former defense attorneys have served as standby counsel since he took over his own defense and have been present during trial the past two weeks.
Recounting what happened at the golf course, a Secret Service agent testified earlier in the trial that he spotted Routh before Trump came into view. Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot, the agent said.
Law enforcement obtained help from a witness who testified that he saw a person fleeing the area after hearing gunshots. The witness was then flown in a police helicopter to a nearby interstate where Routh was arrested, and the witness said he confirmed it was the person he had seen.
Just nine weeks earlier, Trump had survived on his life while campaigning in Butler, Pennsylvania. That gunman had fired eight shots, with one bullet grazing Trump鈥檚 ear. The gunman was then fatally shot by a Secret Service counter sniper.
Routh was a North Carolina construction worker who in recent years had moved to Hawaii. A self-styled mercenary leader, Routh spoke out to anyone who would listen about his dangerous and sometimes violent plans to insert himself into conflicts around the world, witnesses have told The Associated Press.
In the early days of , Routh tried to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to fight the Russians. In his native Greensboro, North Carolina, he was arrested in 2002 for eluding a traffic stop and barricading himself from officers with a fully automatic machine gun and a 鈥渨eapon of mass destruction,鈥 which turned out to be an explosive with a 10-inch (25-centimeter) fuse, police said.
In 2010, police searched a warehouse Routh owned and found more than 100 stolen items, from power tools and building supplies to kayaks and spa tubs. In both felony cases, judges gave Routh either probation or a suspended sentence.
Besides the federal charges, Routh also has pleaded not guilty to state charges of terrorism and attempted murder.
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Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in New York and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed reporting.
