Suspect in Trump assassination plot identified: Who is Ryan Wesley Routh?

58-year-old self-employed builder from Hawaii has history of armed standoffs, political donations, Ukraine support

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The man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at his golf course in Florida on Sunday has been identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, a self-employed affordable housing builder from Hawaii with a long and controversial history.

Although authorities have yet to officially confirm his name, his son, Oran Routh, has spoken publicly about his father’s arrest, describing him as someone passionate about the Ukrainian cause.

Ryan Routh’s ties to Ukraine are prominent, with posts on his social media accounts showing his deep commitment to supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.

He once claimed that he had traveled to Kyiv, where he planned to create a tent city for foreign volunteers, hoping to inspire international support for Ukraine’s military.

In another post from 2023, Ryan Routh suggested to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that American soldiers should be given paid leave so they could fight as civilians in Ukraine.

His son, Oran, echoed these sentiments, telling reporters, “My dad went over there and saw people fighting and dying. He tried to make sure things were right, but things were not.”

Ryan Routh’s social media posts reflected his disappointment with Donald Trump.

While he admitted to supporting Trump during the 2016 election, his views had soured by 2020.

“While you were my choice in 2016, I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we were all greatly disappointed,” Routh posted on X in June 2020.

His anger towards Donald Trump continued to grow, as did his frustration with what he perceived as a lack of action on critical issues, including the war in Ukraine.

Ryan Routh’s past is marked by erratic behavior and brushes with the law.

In 2002, he was arrested in North Carolina after a standoff with police during a traffic stop, during which he barricaded himself in a local business.

The arrest led to charges for possession of a fully automatic machine gun, which was classified as a "weapon of mass destruction" in court documents.

He also faced numerous charges related to driving offenses and resisting law enforcement over the decades.

Court records show that Ryan Routh had ongoing financial troubles, including multiple tax liens and civil suits ordering him to pay significant sums to plaintiffs.

In the years since, he has remained under the radar, focusing on building small homes for the homeless in Hawaii through his company, Camp Box Honolulu.

But as recent events reveal, his political frustrations, particularly with Trump, had been brewing under the surface.

On Sunday, the accused was allegedly found with an AK-47-style rifle equipped with a scope and a GoPro camera, attempting to breach the perimeter of Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach.

A Secret Service agent spotted the weapon sticking out of a fence and engaged the suspect, who fled before being apprehended a short time later in a neighboring county.

Authorities are still piecing together the motivations behind the attack, but they have confirmed it is the second assassination attempt on the former president in recent months, following a previous incident at a rally in Pennsylvania in July.

Though Donald Trump was unharmed in the Florida incident, he issued a statement expressing gratitude to the Secret Service and law enforcement for their swift action.

“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The former president also paid tribute to the people who were killed or injured during the attack.

Ryan Routh’s son, Oran, spoke to the media, expressing disbelief at the accusations against his father.

“I don’t know what’s happened in Florida, and I hope things have just been blown out of proportion,” he said.

Describing his father as a “loving and caring” man, he added that the arrest did not align with the person he knew.

However, he did acknowledge that his father had been outspoken about Trump’s actions—or lack thereof—when it came to key global issues like Ukraine.

In addition to his support for Ukraine, Ryan Routh had also expressed concerns about Haiti in social media posts, linking both crises to Trump’s leadership.

His posts became increasingly erratic over time, touching on a wide range of issues, including Covid conspiracies and disappointment with both political parties.

Despite his criticism of Donald Trump, Ryan’s political donations were exclusively directed to Democratic candidates through the fundraising platform ActBlue.

His contributions, while small, showed support for various 2020 presidential candidates, including Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard, and Andrew Yang.

As the investigation into Sunday’s incident continues, the FBI has classified it as an attempted assassination.

This case highlights the increasing volatility surrounding political figures in the U.S., and Ryan’s story illustrates the deep-seated frustrations that can drive individuals to extreme measures.

Ryan Routh’s history of legal issues, global activism, and volatile political views paint a complex picture of the man accused of one of the most serious crimes in recent U.S. political history.

As more details emerge, the world will be watching to see how this shocking chapter unfolds.