Federal prosecutors on Monday brought charges against Ryan Wesley Routh for possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, the Associated Press reports.
Routh was arrested yesterday in Florida after allegedly attempting to shoot former U.S. president Donald Trump while he was golfing. The FBI said Trump was the target of “what appears to be an attempted assassination” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
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Monday’s hearing lasted about eight minutes, and the AP reports that Routh could face as much as 15 years in prison if convicted on the first charge, and up to five years for the second.
U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire on Sunday after seeing a person with a firearm near Trump’s club. No injuries were reported. Officials say the person fled in an SUV and was later apprehended by local law enforcement and identified. Here’s what to know about him.
He moved to Hawaii from North Caroline six years ago
The Associated Press reports that Routh, 58, lived in Greensboro, N.C. for most of his life before moving in 2018 to Kaaawa, Hawaii, where he and his son operated a company building sheds, according to an archived version of the webpage for the business.
He went to Kyiv in 2022
The Associated Press filmed Routh in April 2022 at a demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square, two months after Russia invaded Ukraine. A placard he was holding said: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.” He wore a blue vest with an American flag on the back while participating in the rally.
Since then he has frequently posted on social media about the war in Ukraine and had a website where he sought to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to Kyiv to join the fight against the Russian invasion.
However, a representative officer of the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command told the AP that Routh has never served in the Ukrainian army, nor collaborated with the military in any capacity.
Oleksandr Shahuri said Routh has periodically contacted the group with what he called “nonsensical ideas,” adding, “His plans and ideas can best be described as delusional.”
Britain’s Guardian newspaper interviewed Routh that same month in Przemyśl, Poland, on his way to Ukraine.
“One-way ticket,” he said. “I’ll die here.”
He added that he had brought a bulletproof vest and helmet. Asked if he was prepared to kill, he said: “I will do that all day long,” adding, “But me killing two or three people would not change [the] course of [the] war. Encouraging thousands of people can change things.”
He said he planned to join protesters with the message: “Putin, here I am.” He calculated that if Russia bombed his protest site, it would be attacking a representation of the world’s communities, which he believed would provoke global action against Russia.
Further, he said: “We need thousands of civilians from every country arm-in-arm in the centre of Kyiv, saying: This is not right. If Putin is OK with killing Ukrainians, then he needs to kill people from other countries as well. He can start with me.”
He wrote a book urging Iran to kill Trump
In 2023, Routh wrote a book, apparently self-published, titled Ukraine’s Unwinnable War, in which he told Iran: “You are free to assassinate Trump.”
The book describes Trump as a “fool” and “buffoon” for both the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots and the “tremendous blunder” of leaving the Iran nuclear deal.
Routh wrote that he once voted for Trump and must take part of the blame for the “child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless.”
His politics are not straightforward
The Associated Press reports that his over 500 posts on X showed his views ranging from left to right, including support for politicians such as Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard and Nicki Haley. The account was suspended Monday by X.
Voter records show he registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, most recently voting in person during the state’s Democratic primary in March.
Routh also made 19 small donations totaling $140 since 2019 to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates, according to federal campaign finance records.
In April he wrote on X: “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose,” in support of Joe Biden.
In his book he noted: “I get so tired of people asking me if I am a Democrat or Republican as I refuse to be put in a category.”
He already has a criminal record
The AP reports that Routh has a 2002 felony conviction for possessing a weapon of mass destruction, citing a newspaper story from the time that said the arrest followed a three-hour armed standoff with police at his roofing business.
Records also show Routh was convicted of a felony count of possession of stolen goods in 2010, as well as misdemeanours, including illegally carrying a concealed weapon, a hit-and-run, speeding, and driving with a revoked license. In each case, a judge sentenced him to either probation or a suspended sentence.
He spent nearly 12 hours on the golf course before fleeing
In legal filings complaint, FBI special agent Mark A. Thomas wrote that he learned from Routh’s mobile phone service provider that his device was around the tree line of Trump’s golf course for nearly 12 hours.
A phone registered to Routh “was located in the vicinity of the area along the tree line … 1.59am until approximate 1.31pm on September 15, 2024,” he wrote.
His son has spoken to the media
In a brief phone call with the BBC about Routh’s trip to Ukraine, his son, Oren Routh, told the broadcaster: “My dad went over there and saw people f—ing fighting and dying,” adding, “He … tried to make sure sh– was cool, and sh– was not cool.”
Asked what he would tell his father if he could speak to him, Oran Routh said: “I know the discourse isn’t working, but we still need to stick to the discourse.”
In a separate interview with CNN on Sunday, Oran Routh called his father “a loving and caring father” and an “honest hardworking man.”
“I don’t know what has happened in Florida, and I hope things have just been blown out of proportion, because from the little I’ve heard it doesn’t sound like the man I know to do anything crazy, much less violent,” he said.
With files from The Associated Press
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