WASHINGTON, Jamaica (AFP) — A man who plotted to assassinate President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course in September 2024, two months before the United States (US) election, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.

Ryan Routh, 59, was convicted in September of trying to kill then-candidate Trump, the second attempt on the billionaire’s life in the run-up to the vote that brought him back to the White House.

According to an AFP journalist in the courtroom, Judge Aileen Cannon handed down the sentence of life plus seven years after a 90-minute hearing, saying it was “to protect the public from future crime” by Routh.

“The evil is in you. Not in everybody else,” she told him.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the sentencing, calling Routh’s attempted assassination “a direct assault against our entire democratic system.”

Routh, of Hawaii, was arrested on September 15, 2024 after a Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a rifle poking from the bushes on the perimeter of the West Palm Beach golf course, where Trump was playing a round ahead of the November election.

The agent opened fire, and Routh, who fled in a vehicle, was arrested shortly after.

Authorities recovered a loaded AK-style rifle, equipped with a scope and a magazine containing additional rounds of ammunition, from Routh’s hiding place.

Wednesday’s sentencing was the culmination of a trial that featured Routh representing himself, despite his having no legal training.

Among his bizarre attempts to prepare for trial, Routh reportedly requested strippers and a golf putting green while in detention, and asked that jurors be selected according to their views on Gaza and Trump’s desire to purchase Greenland. The demands were rejected.

– ‘Empty shell’ –

Routh took the stand at his sentencing hearing to read a rambling 20-page statement, prompting Cannon to interrupt several times and demand that he wrap up his remarks.

“My sentence is totally unimportant. Nothing stands before you, I am nothing but an empty shell,” he said.

Routh, describing himself as a good person, concluded by saying: “Harming someone is totally wrong. You have to be nice and kind.”

Prosecutor John Shipley had requested a life sentence, arguing that Routh had plotted for months on “a cold-blooded killing” with the “goal of upending American democracy.”

Routh was convicted last September of all counts including attempted assassination of a presidential candidate and assaulting a federal officer.

After the guilty verdict was read, Routh attempted to stab himself in the neck with a pen, before being restrained by marshals.

A witness testified during the trial that Routh had dropped off a box at his residence that included a handwritten letter which stated: “Dear World. This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I am so sorry I failed you.”

His motive for wanting to kill Trump was unclear.

Routh’s planned attack on Trump came two months after an assassination attempt on the Republican leader in Pennsylvania, where 20-year-old Matthew Crooks fired several shots during a rally, one of them grazing Trump’s right ear.

The attack, in which a rallygoer was killed, proved to be a turning point in Trump’s triumphant return to power. Crooks was immediately shot and killed by security forces and his motive remains unknown.