Sep 16 – Ryan Wesley Routh has been identified by US media as a suspect following the apparent assassination attempt on US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Florida.
Mr Routh, 58, is from North Carolina originally and spent most of his life there, according to property records, but has most recently lived in Hawaii.
His known activity paints a mixed picture of his politics, and he appears to have felt strongly about Ukraine’s war effort. He has also had a number of legal issues.
Here are some of the other things we know about him.
What did Mr Routh do?
He is suspected of going to the Trump International Golf Course in Florida on Sunday, armed with an AK-47-style rifle. The FBI recovered the weapon and scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera from the bush where the suspect hid.
Although Routh managed to escape in his car, he appears to have been spotted by a witness who took a photo of the black Nissan he was driving.
An urgent alert was put out for the car. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said two officers picked up Mr Routh’s vehicle 45 minutes after the gun was spotted at the golf course, and followed it.
He was eventually stopped on Interstate 95 and taken into custody.
What does Mr Routh’s social media show?
BBC Verify has found social media profiles matching Mr Routh’s name. They indicate that he called for foreign fighters to go to Ukraine to battle against Russian forces.
“I am coming to Ukraine from Hawaii to fight for your kids and families and democracy.. I will come and die for you,” a post on X reads, according to the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.
There are also pro-Palestinian, pro-Taiwan and anti-China messages on his profile, including allegations about Chinese “biological warfare” and references to the Covid-19 virus as an “attack”.
CBS reported that Mr Routh supported President Trump at one point, writing in a post on X that the Republican was “my choice in 2016”, but that he was “getting worse and devolving” and continuing: “I will be glad when you [are] gone.”
Mr Routh has also been seen online urging President Joe Biden and Vice-President Harris to meet victims of a shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, when another attempt was made on Trump’s life in July.
What is Mr Routh’s connection to Ukraine?
Mr Routh told the New York Times in 2023 that he wanted to assist the war effort in Ukraine, and was seeking to recruit Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban.
In a telephone interview with the paper, he said dozens of soldiers were interested and that he planned to move them from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine, in some cases illegally.
“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he said.
Routh also told the newspaper at the time that he was in Washington to meet with the US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe to help push for more support for Ukraine.
Routh appears to have been engaged in recruitment efforts as recently as July.
One Facebook post from July read in part: “Soldiers, please do not call me. We are still trying to get Ukraine to accept Afghan soldiers and hope to have some answers in the coming months… please have patience.”
Ukraine’s International Legion of foreign volunteers has denied having any links, and other Ukrainian officials have distanced themselves from him. President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned political violence.
“Playing with fire has its consequences,” said Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments quoted by the Reuters news agency.
Source: capitalfm
