A man convicted of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump on a Florida golf course in 2024 was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison after a federal prosecutor said his crime was unacceptable “in this country or anywhere.”
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon pronounced Ryan Routh’s fate in the same Fort Pierce courtroom that erupted into chaos in September when he tried to stab himself shortly after jurors found him guilty on all counts.
“American democracy does not work when individuals take it into their own hands to eliminate candidates. That’s what this individual tried to do” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley told the judge.
Defense attorney Martin L. Roth argued that “at the moment of truth, he chose not to pull the trigger.”
The judge pushed back, noting Routh’s history of arrests, to which Roth said, “He’s a complex person, I’ll give the court that, but he has a very good core.”
There was no public sign early Thursday of a response to NBC “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s message to her 84-year-old mother’s kidnapper.
In a recorded video posted on social media Wednesday, Guthrie said her family is ready to talk but wants proof that Nancy Guthrie, who authorities believe was taken from her home in Arizona against her will, is still alive. Guthrie said her family has heard media reports about a ransom letter.
“We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated,” Savannah Guthrie said while reading from a prepared statement. “We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us.”
She was last seen around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, when she was dropped off at home by family after having dinner with them, the sheriff’s department said. She was reported missing midday Sunday after she didn’t appear at a church.
Aaron Fimon, St. Paul campus Public Safety manager, denied a rumor Wednesday morning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took a student from the Anderson Student Center on the university’s St. Paul campus Monday.
Fimon clarified that ICE has not stepped foot on campus, despite a rumor that had been circling on students’ Instagram stories Monday night and Tuesday morning.
“We’ve actually had zero confirmed reports of ICE on campus,” Fimon said Wednesday morning.
The warning was published by first-year student Cade Kuznia at about 9 p.m. Monday on the student body’s collective Instagram story. In a message to The Crest, Kuznia wrote that he took down the post Tuesday and spoke to Public Safety.
After Public Safety investigated the report, further rumors spread on social media that they had received an intentional prank call about ICE being on campus.
“I heard about this yesterday where someone said (it was) a prank call. I don’t know where that information came from,” Fimon said. “We haven’t had anyone say, ‘For sure this is happening,’ and it turned out that they were trying to report it maliciously.”
Abby Madsen can be reached at mads3817@stthomas.edu.
