The man arrested in Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday afternoon posted prolifically on social media about world events and politics, and had at least 100 run-ins with police, public records show.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested Sunday after allegedly pushing the muzzle of an AK-47 through the chain-link fence outside where Trump was golfing. Trump was not injured during the incident and was safely escorted out of the area, officials and the campaign said Sunday.
Ryan Routh is accused of pointing an AK-47 at former President Trump while he was playing golf at his West Palm Beach, Florida, course on Sunday. The incident is being investigated as a second assassination attempt against Trump. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Routh currently resides in Hawaii, after spending most of his life in North Carolina, where he worked in construction, including owning a company called United Roofing, a background check conducted by Fox Digital shows.
Fox News Digital reviewed the suspect's alleged social media accounts on Sunday afternoon and found he was posting prolifically about Trump, the war in Ukraine, the 2020 election and other world events.
Donald Trump safe after gunshots fired outside Palm Beach Golf Club
Sheriff's vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla., after shots were reported fired in the vicinity of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
“I feel lucky to have been born in America, with freedom, opportunity, and the hope of not wasting something so valuable: doing more and receiving less,” the apparent bio on Routh's X account states.
In 2020, during the presidential primaries, account X said: “I didn't support Bernie, but now I do; like Sleepy Joe he stands for nothing; he has no plans, no ideas, he's as weak as Hillary. Bernie… hit them hard… fight to the death…”
The story also weighed in on Trump's assassination attempt in July, calling on Vice President Kamala Harris to visit those injured at Trump's Pennsylvania rally, because “Trump will never do anything for them.”
Police sources identify Ryan Wesley Routh as suspect in shooting of Trump
“You and Biden should visit the people injured in the hospital from the Trump rally and attend the funeral of the slain firefighter. Trump will never do anything for them… show the world what compassion and humanity means,” he said in a reply message to Harris's account on July 17.
“You should visit the victims of Trump's rally in the hospital and attend the funeral of the firefighter who died – Trump would certainly never do that. SHOW THE WORLD WHAT REAL LEADERS DO,” X wrote in another response to President Biden.
In another X post published on April 22, Routh appeared to quote a phrase commonly used by the Harris campaign, declaring: “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”
“His campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. The Trumps should be MASS…make Americans slaves and masters again. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose. We cannot afford to fail. The world is counting on us to show the way,” the account posted before Biden dropped out of the race in July and Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket.
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Sheriff's vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla., after shots were reported fired in the vicinity of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
The X account that appears to belong to Routh also said Trump was its “choice” in 2016, before completely reversing course during the 2020 election.
“Even though you were my choice in 2106, I and the world expected President Trump to be different and better than the candidate, but we were all so disappointed and it seems you are getting worse and evolving; are you retarded? I'll be glad when you're gone,” he posted on June 11, 2020.
The X account that appears to belong to Routh also repeatedly posted messages related to the war in Ukraine, posting on X that he was ready to fly to Ukraine to fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I'm going to Ukraine to fight. We need to launch a media campaign to encourage all human beings in the world to gather in Ukraine and join the fight. We need hundreds of thousands of civilians so that the cost of war will be high for Putin and a flood of fighters,” he posted on February 17, 2022.
After repeatedly declaring his intention to fight on behalf of Ukraine, he posted in April that he was in kyiv.
“I'm here in Kyiv and I want to use Independence Park to create a tent city with all the foreigners who are here to support thousands of foreign civilians coming to support Ukraine,” the account posted.
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Last year, the New York Times published an article titled “Stolen Valor: The American Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lied, Wasted and Argued,” which also quoted a man named Ryan Routh, whom it described as a former construction worker from North Carolina who traveled to Ukraine.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall on Thursday in Tucson, Arizona. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
According to the outlet, Routh was seeking recruits for Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine. “Mr. Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he planned to move them, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine. He said dozens of them had expressed interest,” the outlet reported.
“We can probably buy some passports through Pakistan because it's a very corrupt country,” he told the New York Times in an interview last year.
A background check reviewed by Fox News Digital found that Ryan Wesley Routh has had repeated run-ins with police over decades in North Carolina.
Most of the arrests involved cases of simple possession, driving without a license, driving with an expired registration and driving without insurance.
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In 2002, the Greensboro News & Record reported that Ryan Routh was arrested after barricading himself in the United Roofing office during a three-hour standoff.
Police had detained Routh during a traffic stop, but he put his hand on a gun during the stop, prompting him to drive to United Roofing and barricade himself in the building, the outlet reported at the time. He was arrested without incident after the standoff.
HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA – SEPTEMBER 04: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity at the New Holland Arena on September 04, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Trump and Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris continue to campaign in key states as polls show a tight race ahead of next week's presidential debate in Philadelphia. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch)
He was accused of Carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a weapon of mass destruction, resisting, delaying and obstructing a law enforcement officer and driving with a revoked license. State records show he was sentenced to probation in the case.
Criminal records show Ryan Routh is divorced and moved to Hawaii from North Carolina around 2017.
A LinkedIn profile that appears to belong to Routh details that he is now the owner and operator of a construction company called “Camp Box Honolulu,” which is described on the account as building “simple economic structures to help address the highest rate of homelessness in the United States due to unprecedented gentrification.”
“Having left behind the scant remnants of my North Carolina past and moved to Oahu, I currently build very simple housing structures for the less fortunate and pursue a wide range of other creative projects to develop unique products and devices as well as community improvement projects. I am constantly seeking out opportunities for collaboration that will make the greatest public impact for the betterment of our society. I would love to be invited to join any monumental and worthy cause to create real change in our world. I am certainly free to move to any remote location on the planet that can make the greatest positive impact, or right around the corner to create something unique and magical,” the LinkedIn page stated.
His previous company, United Roofing, earned one-star reviews on Yelp, including a 2016 review that read, “As a military member trying to purchase a home before returning from deployment, I was insulted by the owner, Ryan Routh, for trying to purchase land for a home sight unseen, as many military members do when they return from overseas.”
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Sunday's arrest has been described by the FBI as “what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
According to authorities, Routh was allegedly armed with an AK-47 and managed to shoot the barrel of his weapon through the chain-link fence outside the Florida golf club. He was about 300 to 500 yards from Trump. The Secret Service spotted Routh and opened fire, according to authorities.
Routh fled, but was later detained by authorities and arrested.
Shortly after the incident, Trump assured his supporters and the public that he was safe and sound.
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“There were shots fired near me, but before the rumors start to get out of hand, I want you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND OK!” she posted in a campaign message. “Nothing will stop me. I WILL NEVER GIVE UP.”
In July, an assassination attempt on Trump nearly cost him his life during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Trump suffered an ear injury when gunshots rang out at the rally, while one rally-goer was fatally shot and two others were injured.
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