Ryan Wesley Routh, Would-be Trump Assassin, Fought in Ukraine, Supports War

A suspect is in custody after an apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The suspect was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, aged 58, officials told The Associated Press.
CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller reported Sunday afternoon that Routh’s social media accounts have focused on his “self-proclaimed involvement” in the war in Ukraine, including his supposed effort to recruit soldiers to fight in the conflict. Routh also claimed to have fought in Ukraine as it continues to hold off Russia’s invasion.
Miller said that Routh has been living in Hawaii and was formerly a construction worker in North Carolina. The suspect has also reportedly been previously arrested eight times, mostly for minor offenses.
Routh appears to have previously spoken with The New York Times about his effort to recruit Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine. At the time of the report, which was published on March 25, 2023, Routh told the Times that he had spent several months in Ukraine in 2022.
A Semafor report published on March 10, 2023, cited Routh as the head of the International Volunteer Center (IVC) in Ukraine, a private organization that works to “empower volunteers” and other non-profit groups that work to “enhance the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Ukraine,” according to the IVC’s website.
In a June 2022 interview with Newsweek Romania, Routh spoke about his efforts to recruit volunteers for the International Legion Defense of Ukraine, a unit of Ukraine’s Ground Forces.
“The question as far as why I’m here –To me, a lot of the other conflicts are grey, but this conflict is definitely black and white,” Routh said. “This is about good versus evil. This is a storybook, you know, any movie we’ve ever watched, this is definitely evil against good.”
The Associated Press previously reported that Routh was convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, per online North Carolina Department of Adult Correction records. While the documents reviewed by AP did not provide details about the case, a December 2002 story by News & Record in Greensboro, North Carolina, said that a man with the same name was arrested after a three-hour standoff with police. That report said that Routh was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a weapon of mass destruction, “referring to a fully automatic machine gun.”
Trump was playing golf Sunday afternoon at his Trump International Golf course.
At around 1.30pm a suspect was seen poking a rifle through the fence around the perimeter of the course, Ric Bradshaw the Palm Beach County Sheriff said at a press conference.
The suspect was near the fourth or fifth hole. This was one or two holes ahead of where Trump was playing.
Trump was between 400 and 500 yards from the gunman, Sheriff Bradshaw said at the news conference.
A U.S. Secret Service was one hole ahead of Trump’s group on the course.
He spotted the suspect in the shrubbery by the fence and “immediately engaged that individual,” Bradshaw said.
The officer opened fire. The suspect abandoned the weapon and escaped in a Nissan SUV.
A witness told police he saw the suspect running out of the bushes, jumped into a black Nissan vehicle, Bradshaw said. The witness took a photograph of the vehicle, which allowed police to track the suspect via the license plate.
Bradshaw said the suspect had an AK-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks hanging on a fence and a GoPro camera.
Photos shared by law enforcement show two black bags hanging from a chain-link fence in the shrubbery outside the course, with the firearm propped up in between them and pointed through a gap in the fence. The GoPro camera was hanging on the fence to the side.
The suspect fled in the SUV and was later apprehended in a nearby county without a weapon, law enforcement officials told AP.
Police took the witness to the scene of the arrest and the witness identified the suspect, Bradshaw said.
Teri Barbera, a spokesperson for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, said there was only one person of interest in the investigation who was being interrogated. Barbera did not have information about a possible motive.
Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach County, said his prosecutors are working up warrant and pretrial detention applications. Aronberg indicated the suspect will initially be charged at the state level but could also be charged with federal crimes.
“Our filing of the warrant and charges at the state level does not preclude the federal charges that could be coming,” Aronberg said. “But in the meantime, it looks like the warrants and a pretrial detention motion will happen first.”
In an email to supporters, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”
“Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!” the former president said.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, posted on X that he spoke to the former president before the news became public and said, “he was, amazingly, in good spirits.”
Vance said there was still a lot “we don’t know” about the incident.
Update 9/15/24, 7:39 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.