Ryan Routh tries to kill himself in court after being found guilty of a Trump assassination plot

The courtroom erupts as Ryan Routh tries to knife himself before being sentenced after a jury finds him guilty of attempting to assassinate Trump.

Before mayhem broke out in court when Ryan Routh attempted to stab himself with a pen, a federal jury on Tuesday found Routh guilty of trying to kill Donald Trump at a 2024 golf excursion in Florida.

The jury, which consisted of five men and seven women, deliberated for about two hours before finding Routh guilty on all counts, including assaulting a federal officer and trying to kill a prominent presidential contender. Routh reached for a prisoner’s flexible pen and pushed it to his neck as the verdict was read. While his daughter cried out, “Dad, I love you, don’t do anything,” officers pulled him down and hauled him out of the courtroom. I’ll get you out. He caused no harm to anyone.

Routh, 59, risks a life sentence in prison when he is sentenced on December 18.

In response to the decision, Trump stated, “It’s very important.” You cannot allow such things to occur. It has nothing to do with me, but you cannot let a president or even an individual do that. Justice was done.

Before pointing a rifle through bushes as the then-Republican candidate approached the sixth green of his West Palm Beach country club on September 15, 2024, Routh, according to the prosecution, spent weeks planning his murderous plan. 

Robert Fercano, a Secret Service agent, testified that he saw Routh and fired before Trump appeared, causing Routh to drop his weapon and run. Later, a witness recognized him and he was taken into custody along an interstate.

Trump just escaped another assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunshot wounded his ear, just nine weeks prior to this one.

Routh represented himself at trial, claiming that since he never fired the gun, there was no crime. He told jurors, “If the trigger was never pulled, I find it difficult to believe that a crime was committed.” His preparation and motive, the prosecutors retorted, made the case obvious.

The guilty decision was seen as “a powerful message that political violence will be punished without compromise” by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Routh, a former construction worker from North Carolina who later relocated to Hawaii, has a history of unpredictable and risky behavior, including mercenary recruitment operations, weapon and theft offenses, and weapon stockpiling. He is still being charged with attempted murder and state terrorism.