Ryan Routh, the convicted would-be assassin of President Donald Trump, asked the Florida judge presiding over his case on Wednesday to place him in a state where assisted suicide is legal.
The request comes over one month after a grand jury declared him guilty on all counts for attempting to kill Trump during the 2024 election cycle at the president’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Routh wrote in a motion to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that because he has not been granted new counsel and continues to represent himself, “I would like to plan forward for sentencing and request kindly to be placed in a state that has assisted suicide since I am a constant failure.”
“I have yet been unable to obtain a list, but I hope someone can provide it,” he said, seemingly referencing a list of the states with assisted suicide laws. The practice is legal in 10 states and Washington, D.C.
Routh’s sentencing date is scheduled for Dec. 18.
The failed assassin faces life in prison after his swift conviction on all five counts, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate and possessing a firearm to carry out a violent crime.
After the verdict was announced in court last month, Routh tried stabbing himself in the neck with a pen, suggesting he may have intended to take his own life. Court marshals tackled him, and he was escorted out of the room in handcuffs.
In the letter, Routh went on a tangent about how he’s been urging foreign governments to take him hostage in exchange for political prisoners that the U.S. is trying to free.
He suggested Iran could “torture, kill and drag [him] through the streets” in exchange for the freedom of an Iranian human rights activist, noting the move would be beneficial to Trump because the president would be “disposing of his worst enemy” in a reference to himself.
“Please trade me for one, so they all know they are not forgotten and left to die,” he wrote.
Routh then suggested he could be traded for a Palestinian terrorist imprisoned in Israel, a Ukrainian prisoner of war held in Russia, or “any prisoner anywhere that is suffering.”
He made a similar request in the months leading up to his trial.
Even though he’s asking Judge Cannon to consider sending him to prison in a pro-assisted suicide state, Routh said his death should not be in vain and should help free prisoners around the world.
“Do not let me take my own life, and it has zero benefit for humanity or mankind,” he said.
RYAN ROUTH TRIED TO STAB HIMSELF AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY FOR ATTEMPTING TO ASSASSINATE TRUMP
Toward the end of the motion, Routh compared Trump to baboons, which he said are “far more mature, logical, and wiser than our president.” He then apologized for “slight[ing] the species” by making the comparison.
The newly revealed court document is just the latest in a string of disturbing writings from Routh, who once proposed before his trial that his fate be settled by a round of golf with Trump.
