Ryan Routh: What we know about the Trump assassination attempt suspect

The suspect in an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump is a staunch supporter of Ukraine who has been shunned by the country’s military and has done little to contribute to the war effort.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, who appeared in court Monday, is originally from North Carolina and has lived there most of his life, but most recently lived in Hawaii.

He voted for Trump in 2016, but later turned against him, making statements of support and contributions to other politicians.

Here are some other things we know about him.

He is suspected of going to the Trump International Golf Course in Florida on Sunday armed with an SKS-style rifle. The FBI found the weapon and scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera in a bushy area.

Law enforcement officials say Routh fled the area when a Secret Service agent fired shots at him after seeing the barrel of a rifle sticking out of the bushes.

He did not allegedly fire his own weapon during the incident and at no time did he have a clear line of sight on Mr Trump.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said two officers spotted Routh’s vehicle, a black Nissan, and followed it for 45 minutes.

Routh was arrested on Interstate 95, a major highway.

He was charged with federal firearms offenses. The affidavit said Mr. Routh’s phone was “in the vicinity” of the coverage area for 12 hours.

It later turned out that the car, a Nissan SUV, had license plates belonging to a 2012 Ford that had been reported stolen.

BBC Verify found a number of social media profiles matching Routh’s name.

Mr. Routh has repeatedly touted his work encouraging foreign fighters to travel to Ukraine to fight against Russia.

However, it appears that most of his organizing activities took place in the United States, not Ukraine, where he was rejected by the International Legion in 2022 due to his lack of combat experience.

The FBI continues to investigate his ties to Ukraine and has sent numerous requests to companies seeking information about his phone and social media accounts.

His profile also contains pro-Palestinian, pro-Taiwan and anti-China posts, including allegations of Chinese “biological warfare” and references to the Covid-19 virus as an “attack.”

In a 2020 X-rated post, Routh suggested that he voted for Trump in 2016 but had become disillusioned, writing, “I’ll be glad when you’re gone.”

Mr. Routh also posted an online message urging President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris to meet with victims of the attempted assassination of Mr. Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.

Mr. Routh was registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina but appears to have voted in the last Democratic primary in March, according to state records.

In 2019 and 2020, he made a number of small donations totaling about $140 to ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising organization, according to online federal voter records.

An Associated Press photo of a truck outside Routh’s Hawaii home showed a Biden-Harris campaign sticker on the back.

In the past, Mr. Routh has also endorsed candidates such as Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat who has since left the party and rallied behind Mr. Trump. He has also declared his support for former Republican presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley.

Routh described himself as a “volunteer coordinator” and his ambitions to join the fight were not realized.

The International Legion told the BBC that Routh had “never been a member of, associated with or connected to the Legion… in any capacity”.

One legion volunteer described Routh to the BBC as a chaotic presence who was constantly trying to “sneak in” among officials and “did more harm than good”.

The volunteer said Routh was in Ukraine in April 2022.

“He was not part of any unit and his activities were mainly about causing chaos,” the volunteer said.

“He was also trying to pass himself off as some sort of official entity for all the volunteers, which, again, he was not.

In 2023, Mr. Routh told The New York Times that he wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban.

A Facebook post from July this year reads: “Soldiers, please don’t make noise! ​​“Soldiers, please don’t call me. We are still trying to convince Ukraine to accept Afghan soldiers and we hope to have answers in the coming months… please be patient.”

In a self-published book published in February 2023, Routh complains about the reception his efforts have received in Ukraine. “I have yet to see any sign of appreciation or respect,” he writes.

In his book, Routh describes spending five months in Ukraine working on various projects, including a drone-building program. He says his efforts either failed or were shut down by authorities.

The book also contains a passage where he encourages Iranian officials that they are “free to assassinate Trump.”

Records show that Mr. Routh’s legal troubles date back to the 1990s, with a variety of felonies and misdemeanors, including numerous charges for stolen property.

He was charged and convicted of numerous crimes in Guilford County, North Carolina, between 2002 and 2010, according to online records.

In 2002, he was charged with possessing a fully automatic machine gun, described in court documents as a “weapon of mass destruction.”

A local newspaper report from the time said he barricaded himself in a business and had a three-hour standoff with police officers in the city of Greensboro before being taken into custody.

In another incident, records show he was charged with misdemeanor offenses including hit-and-run, resisting arrest and violating the concealed weapons law.

His alleged offences also include driving with a revoked licence and possession of stolen property.

In 2019, the FBI also received a tip that Routh was a felon in possession of a firearm. The tip, which was unverified, was passed on to local law enforcement in Honolulu.

Former neighbor Kim Mungo describes Routh as a “sweetheart” and says federal agents have already raided Routh’s property.

She claims he used to keep “lots of stolen goods and property” in his home and that she saw Routh and his family shooting guns in the open.

Mr Routh’s eldest son, Oran, described his father as “a loving and caring father, and an honest and hard-working man”.

He told CNN: “I don’t know what happened in Florida, and I hope things were just blown out of proportion, because from what little I’ve heard, the man I know doesn’t seem to have done anything crazy, let alone violent.”

The FBI is seeking friends and family members for questioning, including in North Carolina and Hawaii.

Mr. Routh appeared before a judge Monday in Palm Beach County Court near Mar-a-Lago, charged with firearms offenses.

The charges against him do not refer to an attempt to assassinate Mr Trump, although the FBI has said it is investigating Sunday’s incident as an assassination attempt.

Law enforcement said after the arraignment that the suspect did not fire a weapon and did not have a line of sight on Mr. Trump.

Secret Service and Homeland Security agents searched Mr. Routh’s former home in Greensboro, North Carolina.

A hearing is scheduled for next Monday to determine whether he should remain in custody. Prosecutors say he is a flight risk and a danger to the community.