(LifeSiteNews) – A man convicted of attempting to kill Donald Trump tried to stab himself with a pen moments after the verdict.
On Tuesday, a federal jury found Ryan Wesley Routh guilty of attempting to assassinate the then-former and future President Donald Trump during a 2024 golf outing in West Palm Beach.
The courtroom erupted as a marshal restrained him. “He’s trying to kill himself!” his daughter shouted, before being escorted out. He was removed in shackles and later returned without visible injuries.
Routh represented himself during the two-week trial and was convicted of all five charges: attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, possession of a firearm and ammunition as a felon, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He will be sentenced on December 18 by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon and faces the possibility of life imprisonment.
Routh’s attempted assassination marked the second attempt on Trump’s life during his 2024 campaign. Prosecutors presented extensive evidence, including surveillance, cellphone records, and financial documents, alleging Routh scouted Trump’s Palm Beach course for weeks and prepared a sniper’s position near the sixth green.
FBI agent Kimberly McGreevy testified that Routh used burner phones, multiple aliases, and false license plates in planning his escape.
Authorities arrested him on September 15, 2024, after an eyewitness followed his vehicle and reported his license plate to police. Prosecutors said Routh had searched for flights to Mexico and texted his children farewell messages less than an hour before his planned attack.
During closing arguments, prosecutors said Routh “obsessively stalked and tracked his intended victim,” while Routh insisted that there was no actual attempt at an assassination, that it was “never going to happen,” and that there was “no intent” to carry it out.
Jurors deliberated for less than three hours.
Trump responded on Truth Social, congratulating Attorney General Pam Bondi and prosecutors for securing the conviction. “This was an evil man with an evil intention, and they caught him,” he wrote.
( @realDonaldTrump – Truth Social Post )
( Donald J. Trump – Sep 23, 2025, 2:51 PM ET )Congratulations to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and the entire DOJ team on the conviction, in Florida, of the person who attempt… pic.twitter.com/N4C8tvziUB
— Donald J Trump Posts TruthSocial (@TruthTrumpPost) September 23, 2025
The case drew testimony from 38 government witnesses and hundreds of exhibits. Bondi said that the verdict “illustrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to punishing those who engage in political violence.”
Routh will remain in custody until his December 18 sentencing.
