Ryan Routh, the man accused of plotting to assassinate Donald Trump at a Florida golf course last year, was found guilty on all counts Tuesday in a Fort Pierce courtroom—and moments later tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen.
The dramatic scene unfolded just after a jury of five men and seven women returned its unanimous verdict following two hours of deliberation. As the jurors were leaving, Routh lunged for a flexible custody-issued pen on the desk and jabbed it toward his neck. The pen bent on impact, leaving him unharmed, before officers swarmed him and dragged him out.
As U.S. marshals restrained him, his daughter Sara cried out in the courtroom, shouting that the case was “rigged” and vowing to fight for his release. She was removed as her brother Adam waited outside with her for their father’s transport. When Routh reappeared before the judge shortly afterward, he was shackled—a sharp contrast from the trial days where he represented himself in jacket and tie.
The 59-year-old faces life in prison when sentenced on December 18. He was convicted of attempting to assassinate a presidential candidate, possessing firearms illegally, assaulting a federal officer, and carrying a weapon with an obliterated serial number. During the trial, Routh argued he never pulled the trigger and therefore committed no crime, but prosecutors said he had spent weeks planning, lying in wait with a rifle aimed through shrubbery at Trump as he played golf on September 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach club.
Secret Service agents testified that they spotted him before Trump came into view and opened fire, forcing him to drop his rifle and flee. A witness identified him as the man fleeing the scene before police arrested him on a nearby interstate.
Trump, speaking in New York after the verdict, praised the handling of the case. “It’s very important. You can’t let things like that happen. Justice was served,” he said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi called the verdict proof of the Justice Department’s commitment to punishing political violence. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche added that the ruling “sends a clear message” that attacks on presidential candidates are attacks on the Republic itself.
Routh’s background paints a portrait of volatility. A North Carolina construction worker who later moved to Hawaii, he styled himself as a mercenary, sought to recruit fighters for Ukraine, and had a criminal history involving explosives and stolen goods. Despite his claims in court that he never intended to kill, the jury sided with the prosecution after a weeklong trial with nearly 40 witnesses.
The case comes just months after Trump narrowly survived a separate assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, where a gunman grazed his ear before being shot dead by the Secret Service.
Routh now awaits sentencing, his failed courtroom outburst underscoring the extraordinary spectacle of a man who tried to take justice into his own hands and ended up securing a lifetime behind bars instead.