A 59-year-old man has been found guilty of trying to assassinate Donald Trump on a golf course. <\/p>\n
Ryan Routh attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen shortly after he was convicted on all five charges against him.<\/p>\n
Marshals quickly surrounded Routh and he did not hurt himself. They dragged him out of the courtroom in Fort Pierce, Florida<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n His daughter Sara Routh screamed: “Dad I love you don’t do anything. I’ll get you out. He didn’t hurt anybody.”<\/p>\n She continued screaming in the courtroom as her father was removed, and she said the case against him was rigged.<\/p>\n He was later brought back into court, wearing a white shirt and no tie. There was no blood visible on his neck.<\/p>\n The judge wanted to make sure Routh understood he was found guilty.<\/p>\n His son said “we love you Dad” and Routh turned around and winked as he was taken away.<\/p>\n A jury of five men and seven women decided Routh intended to kill Mr Trump<\/a><\/strong> when he pointed a rifle through a fence as the then US presidential candidate was playing golf in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September last year.<\/p>\n Routh fled without firing a shot after a Secret Service agent patrolling the course ahead of Mr Trump saw Routh and the rifle and opened fire, according to witness testimony in the case.<\/p>\n At the start of the trial, prosecutor John Shipley said “this plot was carefully crafted and deadly serious”, adding that without the agent intervening, “Donald Trump would not be alive”.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The incident occurred weeks after a bullet grazed the president’s ear in another assassination attempt<\/a><\/strong> at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n Routh, who faces the prospect of life in prison, pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him and chose to defend himself in court.<\/p>\n He spent weeks plotting to kill Mr Trump before aiming a rifle through shrubbery as the Republican candidate played golf on 15 September 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n Routh told jurors in his closing argument that he did not intend to kill anyone that day.<\/p>\n “It’s hard for me to believe that a crime occurred if the trigger was never pulled,” Routh said.<\/p>\n He said he could see Mr Trump as he was on the path toward the sixth-hole green and noted he also could have shot a Secret Service agent who confronted him if he had intended to harm anyone.<\/p>\n The guilty verdict “illustrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to punishing those who engage in political violence”, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X.<\/p>\n “This attempted assassination was not only an attack on our President, but an affront to our very nation,” Ms Bondi said.<\/p>\n This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.<\/p>\n Please refresh the page for the latest version.<\/p>\n You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app<\/strong><\/a>. You can also follow us on WhatsApp<\/strong><\/a> and subscribe to our YouTube channel<\/strong><\/a> to keep up with the latest news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 59-year-old man has been found guilty of trying to assassinate Donald Trump on a golf course. 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