Who is Ryan Wesley Routh, suspect in Trump assassination attempt?

Ryan Wesley Routh has been identified by US media as a suspect following the apparent assassination attempt on US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Florida.

Mr Routh, 58, is from North Carolina originally and spent most of his life there, according to property records, but has most recently lived in Hawaii.

His known activity paints a mixed picture of his politics, and he appears to have felt strongly about Ukraine’s war effort. He has also had a number of legal issues.

Here are some of the other things we know about him.

He is suspected of going to the Trump International Golf Course in Florida on Sunday, armed with an AK-47-style rifle. The FBI recovered the weapon and scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera from the bush where the suspect hid.

Although Routh managed to escape in his car, he appears to have been spotted by a witness who took a photo of the black Nissan he was driving.

An urgent alert was put out for the car. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said two officers picked up Mr Routh’s vehicle 45 minutes after the gun was spotted at the golf course, and followed it.

He was eventually stopped on Interstate 95 and taken into custody.

BBC Verify has found social media profiles matching Mr Routh’s name. They indicate that he called for foreign fighters to go to Ukraine to battle against Russian forces.

“I am coming to Ukraine from Hawaii to fight for your kids and families and democracy.. I will come and die for you,” a post on X reads, according to the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.

There are also pro-Palestinian, pro-Taiwan and anti-China messages on his profile, including allegations about Chinese “biological warfare” and references to the Covid-19 virus as an “attack”.

CBS reported that Mr Routh supported President Trump at one point, writing in a post on X that the Republican was “my choice in 2016”, but that he was “getting worse and devolving” and continuing: “I will be glad when you [are] gone.”

Mr Routh has also been seen online urging President Joe Biden and Vice-President Harris to meet victims of a shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, when another attempt was made on Trump’s life in July.

Mr Routh told the New York Times in 2023 that he wanted to assist the war effort in Ukraine, and was seeking to recruit Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban.

In a telephone interview with the paper, he said dozens of soldiers were interested and that he planned to move them from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine, in some cases illegally.

“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he said.

Routh also told the newspaper at the time that he was in Washington to meet with the US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe to help push for more support for Ukraine.

Routh appears to have been engaged in recruitment efforts as recently as July.

One Facebook post from July read in part: “Soldiers, please do not call me. We are still trying to get Ukraine to accept Afghan soldiers and hope to have some answers in the coming months… please have patience.”

Ukraine’s International Legion of foreign volunteers has denied having any links, and other Ukrainian officials have distanced themselves from him. President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned political violence.

“Playing with fire has its consequences,” said Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments quoted by the Reuters news agency.

Records show Mr Routh’s legal issues go back to the 1990s, including lesser charges writing bad cheques, according to CBS.

Mr Routh was charged and convicted of numerous felony offences in Guilford County in North Carolina between 2002 and 2010, CBS reported.

In 2002, he was charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction. In another incident, records show him being charged with misdemeanours including a hit-and-run, resisting arrest, and a concealed weapons violation.

His alleged offences also include driving with a revoked licence, possession of stolen property, and hit-and-run with a motor vehicle.

Former neighbour Kim Mungo, who describes Mr Routh as a “sweetheart”, said federal agents once raided Mr Routh’s property.

She alleged that he used to keep “loads of stolen property and stuff” at his home. And she said she saw Routh and his family firing guns in the open.

CBS reported Mr Routh voted Democratic and in person during the party’s 2024 primary in North Carolina, according to the state’s Board of Elections.

He is reportedly registered as an unaffiliated voter, despite the social media post saying he had backed Trump in 2016.

Mr Routh’s son has described him as “a loving and caring father, and honest hardworking man”.

His eldest son, Oran, spoke to CNN via text message, saying: “I don’t know what’s happened in Florida, and I hope things have just been blown out of proportion, because from the little I’ve heard it doesn’t sound like the man I know to do anything crazy, much less violent.”

Mr Routh remains in custody and no official charges have yet been filed against him. He is expected to appear in front of a judge later on Monday at the Palm Beach County courthouse near Mar-a-Lago.

It is unclear if he actually fired his weapon during the incident.

“We are not sure right now if the individual was able to take a shot at our agents, but for sure our agents were able to engage with the suspect,” said Rafael Barros from the Secret Service Miami Field Office.

He said measures were taken after the previous assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania and “the threat level is high”.

The FBI has announced an investigation, and says it is working with local law enforcement agencies.

Secret Service and Homeland Security agents have also searched Mr Routh’s former home of in Greensboro, North Carolina.