Who is Ryan Routh, arrested for attempted assassination of Donald Trump?

New Delhi: Former US President Donald Trump narrowly escaped an alleged assassination attempt in Florida on Sunday, according to the FBI. 58-year-old suspect Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested after Secret Service agents opened fire near the boundary of Trump’s golf course. A high-powered AK-47-style rifle with a scope and a GoPro camera were recovered at the scene.

When Secret Service agents opened fire, Routh reportedly came out of the bushes and fled in a black car. Authorities were able to locate the car after witnesses helped police identify it.

“We have one person in custody right now who is a possible suspect,” Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw said at a press conference, as quoted by news agency AFP.

Who is Ryan Wesley Routh?

According to the New York Times, Routh is a former construction worker from Greensboro, North Carolina. Routh had no formal military background, but he has expressed a strong desire to participate in armed conflict in the past, particularly following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In a post on Twitter known as X, Routh expressed his willingness to “fight and die” in Ukraine. He also advocated for citizens to change the course of global conflicts.

“I am willing to fly to Krakow and go to the border of Ukraine to volunteer and fight and die,” he wrote.

According to the New York Times, on the messaging application Signal, Routh wrote as part of his profile bio, “Citizens must change this war and prevent future wars.”

His bio on WhatsApp reads, “Each and every one of us must take small steps every day to support human rights, freedom and democracy; we must all help the Chinese.”

Rauth’s activities have not been limited to online announcements. In an interview with The New York Times in 2023, he claimed to have traveled to Ukraine to support the war effort and recruit Afghan soldiers.

This was not Routh’s first encounter with violence. In 2002, he was arrested in Greensboro after barricading himself inside a building with a fully automatic weapon. The charges were serious, although the outcome of the case is still unclear.

Donald Trump “safe”

“President Trump is safe after the shootings around him,” his campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.

“Don’t be afraid! I am safe and sound, and no one was hurt. Thank God!” Trump himself said in a website fundraising message, as quoted by news agency AFP

The recent shooting incident comes at a time when Trump was the target of another assassination attempt while addressing a rally in Pennsylvania. The would-be assassin fired a bullet from his sniper from a distance, which narrowly missed the former US president’s ear. The suspect was shot and killed by officers.