Officials told US media the man taken into custody was Ryan Wesley Routh, whose bio on X, formerly Twitter, says: “I feel lucky to have been born in America, with freedom and opportunity and hope that I do not waste such a valuable thing; to do more and take less”.
Based on his social media profile, it seems two years ago he travelled to Ukraine in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion and urged Americans to join him there.
“I am here in Kyiv and want to use Independence Park to create a tent city of all the foreigners here in support to get thousands more foreign civilians to come and support Ukraine,” he wrote on Twitter in April 2022.
Tweeting the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he said: “Forget the no-fly zone, ask Congress to put all American military on paid leave so they can fight”.
“Ask Congress to put all American military on paid leave so they can fight as civilians in Ukraine.
Ryan Wesley Routh has been identified as the suspect in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Photo / LinkedIn
“Tell Congress what you will pay for all weapons - drones, missiles, planes - everything. Give them a blank cheque so no US responsibility.”
Routh was allegedly armed with an AK-47, had a protective ceramic tile vest, and was carrying two backpacks during the alleged attempted assassination. Officials said Routh dropped them and fled in a car, a Nissan.
A witness was able to photograph the vehicle’s number plate and Routh was subsequently arrested almost 80km from Trump International Golf Club in neighbouring Martin County.
On his LinkedIn page, Routh displays the Ukrainian flag and says he owned Camp Box Honolulu in Hawaii, which builds “simple economical structures to help address the highest homelessness rate in the United States due to unparalleled gentrification”.
“I am constantly looking for collaborative opportunities, which yield the most public impact for the improvement of our society,” he writes.
“I would tremendously enjoy the invitation to join any monumental worthy cause to bring about real change in our world.”
Routh apparently attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, but relocated to Hawaii about 2018.
Pictures of evidence found at the fence of Trump's golf course are shown at a press conference in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photo / AFP
US media said he had eight arrests on his record for minor offences and the car he allegedly used was registered to a family member said to live in the south Florida area.
On his LinkedIn page, Routh wrote: “I am certainly free to relocate to any remote location on the planet that might render the most positive impact, or right around the corner creating something unique and magical”.
It appears he has not used X for a year, when he wrote about Haiti’s struggle to combat gang violence.
“I have thousands of Afghan soldiers that wish to serve for the Haiti national police at cheap wages,” he said. “1000s with passports ready to fly.”
The “replies” tab on Routh’s X feed shows he recently sent messages to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, urging them to visit the people injured during a previous assassination attempt on Trump.
Referring to the July rally Trump held in Butler County, Pennsylvania, where the former president narrowly escaped with his life and a rally-goer was killed, he said: “You and Biden should visit the injured people in the hospital from the Trump rally and attend the funeral of the murdered fireman”.
He added: “Trump will never do anything for them ... show the world what compassion and humanity is all about”.
In another post from May 2022 he wrote: “Killing anywhere is extremely tragic”.
CNN said law enforcement officers were not only trying to ascertain a motive for the attempted killing, but how Routh might have hoped to exploit it.
They are understood to be looking at the time he is said to have spent in Ukraine, and also the fact he was carrying a GoPro camera, suggesting he intended to film or stream any actions.
According to a report by Greensboro’s News and Record newspaper, in 2002 Routh was convicted of “possessing a weapon of mass destruction”, according to online North Carolina Department of Adult Correction records.
The report said Routh was pulled over during a traffic stop, put his hand on a firearm and later drove off to a roofing business, where he reportedly barricaded himself in.
He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a weapon of mass destruction, understood to be a fully automatic machine gun.
