Florida sentences man to life in prison for second attempt to kill Trump

Miami (USA).- A US judge sentenced Ryan Routh to life in prison this Wednesday for attempting to kill Donald Trump on a golf course in Florida in 2024, the second assassination attempt on the Republican while he was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Routh, Martin Roth's lawyer warned that he will appeal the sentence, which, in addition to life imprisonment, also includes an additional 84 months in prison, because he does not agree with the aggravating circumstance of terrorism and because the defendant is already 60 years old.

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"I think the judge may have wrongly applied an aggravating factor for the federal crime of terrorism, and that will probably be the main issue in the appeal. I am going to file an appeal," the defender told the media after the ruling. The sentence comes after a jury found Routh guilty last September of five counts in his attempt to assassinate Trump, which also includes possessing a firearm to commit a crime of violence, attacking a federal agent, being a criminal with a weapon, and having a weapon with a serial number erased.

During the sentencing, Judge Aileen M. Cannon, of the Southern District of Florida, in Fort Pierce, told the guilty party this Wednesday that he was "evil", s according to Sheriff John Budensiek, of Martin County, present at the session.

Budensiek recounted what happened in court, stating that the judge had said it clearly: "the evil is in you, Mr. Routh. You were the one who was trying to kill the President of the United States, former president and then president of the United States, the evil is in you'. And I think that encapsulates everything that happened". Routh, a construction worker from North Carolina, was detained on September 15, 2024, two months before the presidential election, at a Florida golf course owned by Trump where a Secret Service agent discovered him with a semi-automatic rifle behind some bushes.

This was Trump's second assassination attempt when he was a candidate, as in July 2024 he survived shots at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where authorities shot the attacker.

Routh's trial sparked renewed attention because he defended himself, asserted that he did not commit a crime because he had no intention of killing anyone, and made references to figures like Hitler. His lawyer, assigned to defend him at sentencing, explained that the federal sentence will mean the man will not be able to leave prison. The defender reported that the sister attended Wednesday's session and "took it very well." He also referred to Routh as an "exceptional person" for fighting as a volunteer in Ukraine in the invasion of Russia, as well as trying to defend Taiwan from China and recruiting Afghan soldiers trained by NATO.