The man arrested Sunday afternoon at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, frequently posted about world affairs and politics on social media and had had at least 100 run-ins with police, according to public records.
Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested Sunday after allegedly shoving an AK-47 through a chain-link fence outside where Trump was playing golf. Trump was not injured during the incident and was safely removed from the location, authorities and the campaign reported Sunday.
Ryan Routh is accused of pointing an AK-47 at former President Donald Trump while he was playing golf at a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday. This is being investigated as a second assassination attempt against Trump. (Source: Fox News Digital)
According to a background check conducted by Fox Digital, Routh has lived most of his life in North Carolina and currently lives in Hawaii, where he worked in construction, including as the owner of a company called United Roofing.
Fox News Digital conducted an extensive review of the suspect's social media accounts on Sunday afternoon and found that he frequently posted about President Trump, the war in Ukraine, the 2020 election and other world events.
Donald Trump safe after shooting outside Palm Beach golf club
A sheriff's vehicle is parked near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, after gunshots were reported near former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
“I feel blessed to have been born in America, blessed with the freedom and opportunity that I have, and aspire not to squander these precious things, but to achieve more and get less,” the biography, which appears to be from Routh's X account, reads.
During the 2020 presidential primaries, the X account said: “I didn't support Bernie but I do now. Sleepy Joe stands for nothing. No plan, no ideas, just as ineffectual as Hillary. Bernie… show them hell… fight to the death…”
The account also referenced the July assassination attempt on President Trump, calling on Vice President Kamala Harris to visit those injured at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, saying “President Trump will do nothing for them.”
Law enforcement sources identify Ryan Wesley Routh as suspect in Trump shooting
“You and Biden should visit the people in the hospital injured at Trump's rallies and attend the funerals of the firefighters killed. Trump will do nothing for them…. Show the world what compassion and humanity are,” he said in a response message to Harris' account on July 17.
“You should visit the hospitals of the victims of the Trump rally and attend the funerals of the firefighters who died. Trump would never do that. Show the world what a real leader does,” he wrote in another response to President Biden.
In another X post from April 22, Rouse appeared to quote a phrase often used by the Harris campaign, declaring, “Democracy is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”
“Your campaign should be named something like KADAF. Make America a democratic and free country. Trump should be MASA… Make Americans slave masters again. Democracy is on the ballot and we cannot lose. We cannot fail. The world is counting on us to show the way,” the account posted in July, before Biden dropped out of the race and Harris emerged as the top Democratic candidate.
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A sheriff's vehicle is parked near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, after gunshots were reported near former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
The X account, believed to belong to Routh, said Trump was his “choice” in 2016, but completely recanted during the 2020 election.
“When you were my choice in 2106 I and the world had high hopes for President Trump to be a different and better person than the candidate but to all of us a huge disappointment you seem to have deteriorated and regressed. Are you retarded? I will be glad when you are gone,” he posted on June 11, 2020.
The X account believed to belong to Routh also repeatedly sent messages related to the war in Ukraine, posting on X that he was ready to fly to Ukraine to fight Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I am flying to Ukraine to fight. We need to start a media campaign urging all people around the world to come to Ukraine and join the fight. We need hundreds of thousands of civilians to make the cost of war high for Putin and the influx of fighters,” he posted on February 17, 2022.
He posted in April that he was in Kyiv after repeatedly sending messages expressing his willingness to fight for Ukraine.
“I'm in Kyiv and want to use Independence Park to create a tent city for all the foreigners here so that thousands more foreign civilians can come and support Ukraine,” the account posted.
Trump shooting: A timeline of the assassination attempt
Last year, the New York Times ran an article called “Stolen Honor: American Volunteers in Ukraine Lie, Squander and Argue,” quoting a man named Ryan Routh as a former construction worker who traveled to Ukraine from North Carolina.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump spoke at a campaign event at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall in Tucson, Arizona on Thursday. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
According to the outlet, Routh was recruiting Afghan fighters who had fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine. “Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he planned to transport them to Ukraine from Pakistan and Iran, in some cases illegally. Dozens had expressed interest, he said,” the outlet reported.
“You could probably buy a passport through Pakistan because Pakistan is a corrupt country,” he told The New York Times in an interview last year.
A background check verified by Fox News Digital revealed that Ryan Wesley Routh had multiple run-ins with police over decades in North Carolina.
The majority of the arrests were for simple possession, driving without a license, driving with an expired registration and driving without insurance.
Video taken from the perspective of the victim of the Trump assassination attempt shows a figure moving across a rooftop moments before the shooting
In 2002, the Greensboro News & Record reported that Ryan Rouse had barricaded himself inside the United Roofing offices and was arrested after a three-hour standoff.
According to the outlet's report at the time, Routh was stopped by police for a traffic violation, during which he grabbed a gun, drove to United Roofing and barricaded himself inside. After a standoff, he was arrested without incident.
HARRISBURG, PA – SEPTEMBER 4, 2024: Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump participates in a Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity at New Holland Arena on September 4, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Trump and Democratic presidential candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris continue to campaign in battleground states as polls predict a close race ahead of next week's presidential debate in Philadelphia. (Photo by Kevin Deitch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch)
He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a weapon of mass destruction, resisting, delaying or obstructing a police officer and driving while his license was revoked. He was placed on probation in the case, according to state records.
According to biographical records, Ryan Routh is divorced and moved to Hawaii from North Carolina around 2017.
A LinkedIn profile that appears to belong to Rouse details that he is currently the owner and operator of a construction company called Camp Box Honolulu, which the account describes as a company that builds “simple, economical structures that help solve the problem of unprecedented gentrification resulting in some of the highest rates of homelessness in the United States.”
“I left what little I had left in North Carolina and moved to Oahu. I currently build very simple homes for the less fortunate and work on a variety of creative projects including developing unique products and devices and community improvement projects. I am always looking for collaborative opportunities where I can have the greatest impact on social betterment. I love it when I am invited to be part of monumental worthy causes that make a real difference in the world. I am free to move anywhere on the planet to find where I can make the most positive impact or create something unique and magical right in my own neighborhood,” my LinkedIn page states.
His previous company, United Roofing, had a one-star rating on Yelp, with a 2016 review saying, “As a military veteran looking to purchase a home before returning from deployment, the owner, Ryan Rouse, was insulting to me for trying to purchase a home site without seeing it in person, as many military members do after returning from overseas.”
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The FBI described Sunday's arrest as “a suspected assassination attempt against former President Trump.”
Authorities said Routh was armed with an AK-47 and allegedly pointed the gun at a chain-link fence outside a Florida golf club. He was about 300 to 500 yards away from Trump. Secret Service agents spotted Routh and opened fire, authorities said.
Routh fled but was later stopped and arrested by authorities.
Shortly after the incident, President Trump assured his supporters and the public that he was safe and healthy.
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“Gunshots were heard near me, but before the rumors get out of control, I want you to hear this first: I am safe and well!,” he posted in a campaign message. “Nothing can stop me. I will never surrender.”
In July, Trump was nearly killed in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, when gunfire rang out at the rally, leaving him with a hearing injury, one rally attendee killed and two others wounded.
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