A photo of the suspect emerges, authorities say. pointed a high-caliber rifle at former President Donald Trump on a Florida golf course on Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was armed with an AK-47-style rifle and was 300 to 500 yards from Trump when members of the former president’s Secret Service spotted him, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. The suspect was a few holes away from where the president was playing golf at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, authorities said.
Law enforcement said members of the Secret Service opened fire on Routh. It was unclear whether he fired any shots. Bradshaw said a witness saw a man emerge from the bushes and flee in a black Nissan. Authorities ran the license plate number and the car was stopped about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the golf course. The driver was arrested and identified as the suspect. Law enforcement found the rifle, a scope, two backpacks with ceramic tiles and a GoPro camera in the bushes at the scene.
Stephanie Matat / AP
The FBI and American Secret Service are investigating the incident, which the FBI said “appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
As the investigation continues, here’s what we know about the suspect:
A Decades-Long Criminal History
His most recent address is in Hawaii, but he has lived most of his life in North Carolina, according to land records. Routh owned Camp Box Honolulu, a shed construction company, according to his LinkedIn profile. The account also says he attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and graduated in 1998.
Records show that Routh’s legal troubles date back to the 1990s and include lesser charges of writing bad checks. But in 2002, he was charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction, a felony, according to North Carolina Department of Corrections records. In another incident, he was charged with misdemeanors including hit-and-run, resisting arrest and carrying a concealed weapon, records show.
Suspect criticized Trump online
Routh voted Democratic in North Carolina’s 2024 primary election, and he voted in person, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. He appears to be registered as an unaffiliated voter.
His now-suspended X account included a number of posts about Trump.
“@realDonaldTrump While you were my choice in 2016, I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than the nominee, but we were all sorely disappointed and it seems you are getting worse and worse,” he wrote in a June 2020 post. “I will be glad when you are gone.”
He also referred to the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in several posts, suggesting that President Biden and Vice President Harris should visit the wounded and attend the funeral of the Pennsylvania protester who was killed.
A Facebook account under Routh’s name was no longer online Sunday evening.
Passionate support for Ukraine
A CBS News analysis of Routh’s social media shows that his pro-Ukrainian views also seeped into his public statements. Routh was passionate about supporting Ukraine, even traveling abroad in hopes of fighting in the country. war against Russia in 2022.
“I am coming to Ukraine from Hawaii to fight for your children, your families and democracy. I will come and die for you,” he wrote on X. In a LinkedIn post, he shared a photo of himself in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.
But things didn’t go as he had planned. In a 2022 interview with Newsweek Romania, he said: “My initial goal was to come and fight… but I’m 56 years old, so at first they said I had no military experience, so they said I wasn’t an ideal candidate. So they said, not at the moment. So Plan B was to come here to kyiv and promote the arrival of more people here.”
He urged people, even those without military skills, to take up arms for Ukraine and offered to help them connect to military units. He was interviewed by several news outlets, including The New York Times and Semafor in 2023.
According to the Times, Routh allegedly tried to recruit Afghan fighters who had fled the Taliban to help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion. He told Semafor that he had failed to convince the Ukrainian Defense Ministry to “issue a single visa” for the soldiers. It is unclear whether his efforts were successful.
“It’s about good versus evil,” he told Newsweek Romania.
Pat Milton contributed to this report.
