Ryan Wesley Routhaccused this Monday of several charges related to a possible attack against the former president Donald Trump (2017-2021), the second against the candidate in two months, had voted for the Republican in 2016 but was “disappointed” with his term.
The 58-year-old suspect was arrested Sunday afternoon in West Palm Beach (Florida), after he approached the golf course where the former president was playing armed with an AK-47 rifle with a telescopic sight.
After being detected by the Secret Service, who shot him, the man managed to flee in a vehicle, although he was arrested shortly afterwards on a nearby road.
Routh was charged Monday in a Florida court with two federal counts of possessing a firearm despite being a convicted felon and possessing several weapons with their serial numbers removed.
Authorities said at a news conference that they are not ruling out adding other charges as the investigation progresses.
In a post on his X account in 2020, Routh said he had voted for Trump in the 2016 election but had been disappointed by his tenure.
“I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than when he was a candidate, but we were all very disappointed and it seems that you are getting worse… I will be glad when you are gone.”
Routh voted Democratic in the 2024 primary in North Carolina, where he was born, and voted in person, according to data from the North Carolina State Board of Elections cited by CBS.
His most recent address is listed at Hawaiwhere he owns a construction company, but spent most of his life in North Carolinawhere he was born and went to college.
On his social media, he has also expressed his support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. He even traveled to that country in 2022 to enlist and help the army in the war, but, as he explained on his social media, his age did not allow him to meet the requirements.
However, he encouraged Americans to join the Ukrainian army in interviews with several media outlets, including CBS y The New York Times.
Routh has a lengthy criminal record. In 2002, according to court records obtained by several media outlets, he was convicted of possession of a weapon of mass destruction: a fully automatic machine gun.
Records also show convictions for carrying a concealed weapon, possession of stolen property and hit-and-run.
According to NBC, more than a hundred criminal charges have been filed against Ryan Routh in North Carolina.
The 25-year-old son of the detainee told CNN on Sunday that it is not like his father to “do something crazy, much less violent.” “I don’t know what happened in Florida, and I hope things have just been blown out of proportion,” he told the outlet.
In court, Routh said Monday that he has no savings, that the only assets he owns are two trucks currently in Hawaii and that he receives about $3,000 a month in income.
Routh is due back in court on September 23 for his bail hearing and on September 30 for his arraignment.
Trump has suffered two assassination attempts in just over two months. On July 13, Thomas Mathew Crooksat just 20 years old, became the youngest person to attempt an assassination in the country since 1981.
The young gunman was killed by US Secret Service agents seconds after firing around eight shots at the president as he was taking part in a rally in Pennsylvania.
Crooks used an AR-15 rifle purchased legally by his father. EFE (I)
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