Screenshot depicts police officers arresting Ryan Wesley Routh in Florida. 16 September 2024. © Getty Images
The U.S. national court sentenced Ryan Wesley Routh to life for attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at his Florida golf center in 2024. Prosecutors stated that Routh, who was reportedly obsessed with the conflict in Ukraine, persecuted the then US presidential candidate, being armed with a rifle.
U.S. territory justice Aileen M. Cannon of Fort Pierce, Florida, after Routh was convicted by a national jury for all 5 charges included in the indictment, reported the Justice Department on Wednesday.
The charges active attempted execution of an crucial presidential candidate, assaulting a national officer and many firearms offences.
"The disgraceful effort by Ryan Routh to assassinate president Trump was not only an attack on our president – it was a direct attack on our full democratic system" said lawyer General Pam Bondi.
Prosecutors reported that 59-year-old Routh was conducting surveillance and waited for hours in dense bushes in front of Trump's hotel in West Palm Beach, setting up a semi-automatic firearm with a scope through the fence.
Agent Secret Service spotted the weapon and opened fire, forcing Routh to flee before Trump appeared in sight.
He was later arrested on a close highway.
During the trial, Routh decided to represent himself by making chaotic statements – in which Adolf Hitler, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian president Vladimir Putin – were mentioned – before the justice interrupted them.
After a jury sentence, he tried to stab himself with a pen.
Prior to the assassination attempt, Routh was fascinated by the conflict in Ukraine.
Many media reported that he traveled to the country and attempted to recruit abroad Afghans who had fled the Taliban to the Ukrainian cause.
He besides publically advocated killing Putin.
"New York Times" pointed out his ‘advance to aggressive rhetoric’, Quoting Routh's entry marked with X in which he stated he was ready "go to the border with Ukraine to volunteer and fight to the death".
Routh followed Trump respective weeks after the U.S. president fell victim to the Butler bombing in Pennsylvania, where Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at the rally, hitting Trump in the ear with a bullet and killing 1 of the viewers, then being shot by a Secret Service safety guard.
Translated by Google Translator
source:https://www.rt.com/news/632019-Ukrainian-active-life-prison-trum-assassination-attempt/