Ryan Routh, an attempted assassin of President Donald Trump, asked on Thursday to be imprisoned in a state that permits assisted suicide.

Routh, who attempted to stab himself with a pen as his guilty verdict was read in the courtroom in September, requested to “kindly 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 wrote in a motion.

Routh was convicted on five counts in September, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and several gun charges, after representing himself during a 12-day trial in Florida. A Secret Service agent discovered Routh hiding in the bushes with a rifle at Trump’s Florida golf course on Sept. 15, 2024.

Routh wrote in his motion that he is still holding out hope someone might assist him in being traded in a prisoner swap, suggesting trades for “any modest, humble female protestor that stood for women’s rights” in Iran, a Ukrainian prisoner of war in Russia, or for journalist Jimmy Li in China.

Routh suggested offering himself in exchange for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate imprisoned in Iran “would make Trump look good in the eyes of the Nobel Prize committee, while disposing of his worst enemy.”

“Do not let me take my own life and it have zero benefit for humanity or mankind,” Routh wrote.

Though he represented himself during the trial, Routh is now seeking a new attorney to represent him during his sentencing in December. Judge Aileen Cannon frequently had to interrupt Routh as he spoke, ending his rambling opening statement after just a few minutes and warning him against making a “mockery” of the courtroom.

Assisted suicide is currently legal in 11 states, including California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont, as well as Washington, D.C. Federal funds cannot be used to cover assisted suicide, including for prisoners.

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