Man convicted of trying to assassinate Trump

Court sketch of Ryan Routh talking in his assassination attempt trial before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon

Routh represented himself without a lawyer, and offered little in the way of a defense

(Image credit: Lothar Speer via AP)

What happened

A federal jury in Florida Tuesday convicted Ryan Routh of trying to shoot President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course last September. The jurors deliberated for less than three hours. After they found Routh guilty of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate and four other charges, he tried to stab himself in the neck with a flexible prison-safe pen but emerged uninjured.

Who said what

The “rare trial of a would-be presidential assassin was made more unusual” by Routh’s decision to represent himself without a lawyer, The New York Times said. That decision, approved by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, “made the trial a lopsided one from the start,” when Cannon cut off Routh’s opening statement “for lack of relevance.” He did not testify, called only three witnesses to the stand for a total of about three hours and offered little in the way of a defense. His court-appointed standby lawyers were present during the 12-day trial.

Routh, a 59-year-old itinerant building contractor from North Carolina with previous felonies, told jurors in his closing argument Tuesday that he had the opportunity to shoot Trump and a Secret Service agent near the sixth hole but chose not to. Prosecutors failed to prove “any intent” to kill, he said. “It’s hard for me to believe that a crime occurred if the trigger was never pulled.” Trump and Justice Department leaders applauded the verdict.

What next?

Routh is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18. He faces up to life in prison.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.