Former US president and Republican candidate Donald Trump survived another apparent assassination bid on Sunday after the Secret Service foiled the attempt while he was golfing on his course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
According to the FBI, the Secret Service agents spotted and fired at a gunman hiding in the bushes surrounding the golf course. The suspect, later identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, initially fled the scene, leaving behind an AK-47-style assault rifle and other items. The law enforcement officials arrested him after a brief car chase.
Who is Ryan Wesley Routh?
According to The New York Times, Routh is a resident of Hawaii and used to work as a construction worker in North Carolina Greensboro. News agency Reuters found profiles on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn for a Ryan Routh who appeared to be the man identified as the suspect by those news organisations.
An analysis of these accounts suggest that Routh was an avid supporter of Ukraine in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. In several of the posts, he appeared to be trying to help recruit soldiers for Ukraine's war effort.
“I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE,” he wrote in one of the posts.
Public access to the Facebook and X profiles was removed hours after the shooting.
The New York Times reported that Routh was interviewed by the publication in 2023 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Routh told the publication that he travelled to Ukraine soon after the conflict began and despite not having any military experience, he helped in recruiting Afghan soldiers to fight there.
Routh also told the publication that in order to garner support for Ukraine, he had once travelled to Washington to meet politicians. “I’m just a US citizen that’s helping out," he was quoted as saying.
A self-proclaimed human rights champion?
As per the Times, Routh's bios on messaging apps had frequent mentions of human rights, freedom and democracy. On the messaging application 'Signal', Routh wrote that, “Civilians must change this war and prevent future wars,” as part of his profile bio. His WhatsApp, bio read, “Each one of us must do our part daily in the smallest steps help support human rights, freedom and democracy; we each must help the chinese.”
On X in 2020, Routh expressed support for Democratic US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and mocked Biden as "sleepy Joe."
Earlier this year, Routh tagged Biden in a post on X: "@POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA ...make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose."
As per a media report, Routh was arrested in 2002 as well for blockading himself with a fully automatic weapon inside a building.
Trump safe
After the foiled assassination bid, Trump sent an email to supporters saying 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!"
(With Reuters inputs)