Would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh tries stabbing self after guilty verdict

Would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh tries stabbing self after guilty verdict

And we do have the breaking news just coming in. The man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump is found guilty on all five counts. And those jurors deliberated for about three hours today in Fort Pierce before delivering the verdict. Local 10’s Christina Vasquez is live outside of the courthouse in Fort Pierce with all of the late breaking details. Christina, fill us in. And dramatic events unfolding as I was here on this sidewalk outside the courthouse to join you live. an Associated Press reporter was still inside. This is after what I heard, which is the jury returning the determination. And what they are reporting happened next is that Ryan Ruth then grabbed a pen, tried to stab himself in the neck. The marshals rush in and had to be dragged out of the courtroom. They also report that his adult daughter, who you might remember Sarah, she was in our news report from yesterday, that she was screaming out about her love and affection for her father. You might remember that she’s described her father as her best friend. So, here is what the jury determined. Take a look. Guilty on all five counts. Now, you might remember it’s that first one that is uh the most significant. So, they did find him guilty of attempting to kill Donald Trump when he was a presidential candidate last year. Keep walking. A 12p person jury found Ryan Ruth guilty of trying to assassinate Donald Trump at Trump’s West Palm Beach Golf Course last year. They also found him guilty on four additional related charges. All units be advised. During closing arguments, federal prosecutors walking the jury through the mountain of evidence in this case, 38 government witnesses, more than a hundred exhibits, which they say shows Ruth intended to kill Trump, and took substantial steps toward committing that crime by meticulously and obsessively tracking Trump before lying in weight. A loaded rifle with a bullet in the chamber and the safety off in a sniper hide he created 126 feet from the hole Trump was set to play next. Make no mistake, the federal prosecutor said Ryan Ruth wanted Donald Trump dead and was one bullet away. Individual push with a gun. Ending on a theme about political violence that voters get to decide. Not one man with some weird agenda and a gun, he said, adding he wanted to silence the voice of his fellow Americans. Nobody gets to decide an election that way. Ruth, who is acting as his own attorney, referred to himself in the third person as he shared his interpretation of intent with the jury, telling them the evidence shows he had a clear shot and did not take it. It was golden. It was so easy. He told them he could have completed the job. Yeah, 100% just pulled the trigger, but no intent. The individual could not pull the trigger. It is not in the defendant’s heart. The federal judge did have to navigate him back toward making relevant remarks after he drifted off into a speech about the character of the nation in a mention of January 6th. It appears his goal was to present a view of himself to the jury that he is peaceful and nonviolent. It is hard for me to see that a crime occurred, he said, if the trigger was never pulled. And it would appear this jury not buying his interpretation of that word intent. instead siding with prosecutors believing that they did prove their case, finding him guilty on all five counts. So, what you’re looking at live is what I can see from where I’m joining you live. So, we talked about what the Associated Press reporter inside the courtroom saw, right? That Ryan Ruth then grabs a pen, tries to stab himself, and an emotional reaction from his daughter Sarah. So, you are looking at Sarah in the white dress, and she’s uh standing next to Adam, which is her brother. They’ve been here, she says, from Hawaii every single day of the trial. And they’re waiting at this guard gate presumably maybe to see the transport uh van for their father. Again, Sarah describing her father as uh her best friend and clearly exhibiting some emotion in the courtroom uh as this outcome did not come to what she had hoped for her father. And something she spoke about yesterday is obviously facing the fact that her father is now going to be facing a possible sentence of life in prison.

The man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at a Florida golf course last year tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen shortly after being found guilty of all counts on Tuesday.