It was a sunny 31 degrees Celsius on September 15, 2024, at US President Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course. The private 27-hole course was the first of his 16 golf courses, located just a few kilometers from his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Trump was mid-campaign for his second presidential term, an election he would later win that year. He had already survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, just two months prior, and was about to face another.
Trump arrived at the course in the early afternoon, accompanied by a Secret Service team and real estate mogul Steve Witkoff. His would-be assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, was already waiting.
The now 59-year-old roofer turned activist has recently been sentenced to life in prison for what prosecutors described as a “painstakingly” plotted attack. “Routh’s crimes… reflect careful plotting, extensive premeditation, and a cowardly disregard for human life,” the prosecution wrote in court filings. One prosecutor told the judge Routh’s ultimate goal was to “up-end American democracy.”
A roofer with a dream to ‘fight and die for Ukraine’
Ryan Wesley Routh had spent most of his life in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he owned a roofing business for several years. A former high school classmate said Routh was social and had friends, but wasn’t “overly popular.” “He would never have struck me as somebody that tried to shoot the president, ever,” Tim Bryson told local media.
However, Routh was no stranger to law enforcement. His criminal record included charges for theft, driving with a suspended license, and multiple hit-and-runs. In 2002, he was pulled over for driving without a valid license and reached for a machine gun, leading to a charge for possession of a “weapon of mass destruction.” “I figured he was either dead or in prison by now,” former charging officer Tracy Fulk told WIRED. “I had no clue that he had moved on and was continuing his escapades.”
Former Greensboro police officer Eric Rascke said he had more than 100 encounters with Routh during his time on the force. “He would call me out by name, and it was always with arrogance, cockiness and attitude,” Racske told WFMY News. “He always thought he was above everybody. He always had something to say, like he knew more than you and could get away with it.”
In 2018, Routh moved from North Carolina to a small town in Hawaii, about 45 minutes from Honolulu. He planned to build sheds with his adult son, structures he said would “help address the highest homelessness rate in the United States due to unparalleled gentrification,” according to his LinkedIn page. He also expressed a desire to “fight and die for Ukraine,” giving interviews with multiple outlets, including the New York Times.
Video shot by the Associated Press showed Routh at a small demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square in April 2022, two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of the country. He held a placard reading: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.” That same day, he also visited a makeshift memorial to “Foreigners killed by Putin.”
However, Routh never served in the Ukrainian army or worked with its military, said Oleksandr Shahuri of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command’s Foreigners Coordination Department. Shahuri said Routh periodically contacted the International Legion of Ukraine with what he described as “nonsensical ideas” that could “best be described as delusional.”
In a self-published book in 2023, Routh wrote that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump.”
In late July 2024, Routh called a former employee, Tina Brown Cooper, and told her he needed help buying a rifle, according to court filings. Routh’s criminal record prevented him from purchasing a firearm on his own. Cooper asked her new boss, Ronnie Jay Oxendine, if he had any guns for sale, and he agreed to sell her a “Chinese-made SKS rifle,” similar to an AK-47.
On August 2, Routh called Cooper and asked her to meet outside Oxendine’s Greensboro business to receive the rifle. “Oxendine was outside of [his] business when Cooper, her daughter, and Routh arrived,” a court filing said. “Oxendine asked Cooper why Routh was there [and] Cooper explained that the SKS was actually for Routh. Routh paid Oxendine $350 in cash for the SKS rifle and paid Cooper $100 in cash for arranging the sale.”
By the time Routh obtained the gun, the Secret Service was facing criticism for its failure to stop the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. During that incident, shots rang out minutes after Trump began speaking, with one bullet hitting him in the ear and others hitting members of the crowd. A 50-year-old former firefighter, Corey Comperatore, was killed in the attack. Then-President Joe Biden called the incident “sick,” stating, “There’s no place in America for this kind of violence.”
A last minute golf-trip and a gun barrel through the fenceline
On that September morning, a taskforce report later revealed, the Secret Service was notified of Trump’s plan to golf at 2:30 am. The presidential candidate requested to leave just after 11 am, moving his arrival time an hour earlier. The outing hadn’t been on Trump’s official schedule, according to acting director Ronald L Rowe, Jr.
The golf course had been flagged as a potential risk, with photographers frequenting the tree line hoping to photograph the president. “They’ve gone through the shrubs and been able to poke a camera through the fencing,” Palm Beach County state attorney Dave Aronberg said. “You would think that perhaps maybe they would consider someone scoping the perimeter. It’s a huge area to cover. It’s not so easy just to keep walking around at all times because someone could slip in and slip out there.”
Trump’s status – not a serving president, but only a candidate – meant his security was less intense, according to officials. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said if Trump had been president, officers “would have had the entire golf course surrounded.”
At 1:30 pm, an agent moved to the next hole to “clear the area and ensure President Trump’s safety,” according to an affidavit. The agent noticed Routh first, standing as close as 1.5 meters away. Then he noticed the barrel of the gun poking through the fence line.
The final report into the attempted assassination said it was believed the agent fired as many as six shots at Routh.
“[Secret Service] counter snipers responded immediately, yelling at the golfing group to get on the ground, and taking positions aiming their firearms towards the corner of Congress Avenue,” the affidavit said. “One witness heard an agent state that the shooter was in the tree line and noted … agents began running in that direction. President Trump was quickly removed from the golf course.”
Six phones, extra licence plates and 12 pairs of gloves found in car
Routh fled, jumping into a waiting car and speeding away. He left behind a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded rifle, and a black plastic bag containing food. The serial number on the rifle was “obliterated and unreadable,” according to court documents, and the bags had been hung from the chain-link fence.
“The backpack and shopping bag both contained plates,” a court filing stated. “Subsequent preliminary testing showed the plates were capable of stopping small arms fire.”
Routh’s phone records revealed he had been waiting by the fence line for almost 12 hours. Police tracked the car – a black Nissan Xterra – and stopped it heading northbound on the motorway at 2:15 pm. “Law enforcement discovered that the licence plate on the Nissan Xterra was not registered to [the car],” court documents said. “During a search… FBI agents found two additional licence plates. The agents also found six cell phones. One of the cell phones contained a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.”
“The agents also found 12 pairs of gloves, a Hawaii driver’s licence in [Routh’s] name, a passport… and documents,” court filings continued. The documents included a handwritten list of dates and venues Trump had made appearances or was scheduled to appear in August, September and October of 2024. A notebook contained pages of names and phone numbers relating to Ukraine and how to join combat on behalf of Ukraine.
Routh appeared calm when arrested, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. He did not question why he was being detained.
‘If he wins he can execute me, I win I get his job’
Routh chose to represent himself at trial, including in public court filings that called the president a “racist pig.” In one document, Routh challenged Trump to a “beat down session” or a round of golf, adding if “he wins he can execute me, I win I get his job.” The trial was repeatedly stopped and started because of Routh’s clashes with the judge.
Routh faced five criminal charges, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm as a felon, and using a gun with a defaced serial number. In a 55-minute long closing argument, Routh said he had not intended to kill Trump. “The prime opportunity was there for the defendant to shoot the president,” he said. “Why was the trigger not pulled? It was just an individual on the fence with a gun resting there.”
After just two and a half hours, the jury returned a guilty verdict for all counts. As the verdict was read, Routh attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen before being surrounded by armed marshals. The pen, according to ABC US, was specifically designed not to cause injury.
His daughter, seated in the courtroom, shouted as he was led away: “I will get you out.” “He didn’t hurt anybody,” she said. “This is not fair. This is all rigged. You guys are a**holes.”
Routh was sentenced to life in prison this week for what Judge Aileen Cannon called a “deliberate” and “evil” plan. As he addressed the court, Routh remained seated and shackled at the wrists and ankles. “Nothing stands before you but a hollow American shell,” he told the judge. “Sadly, execution is not an option.”
ABC/AP
