Topline
The man arrested in connection with what authorities called a second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was charged in federal court Monday in West Palm Beach, Florida, facing two initial counts for gun crimes.
Ryan Wesley Routh takes part in a rally in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022.
Key Facts
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of firearm with an obliterated serial number—charges that could bring a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.
Routh could still face additional charges in the case.
Routh appeared at the Southern District of Florida courthouse before Judge Ryon M. McCabe Monday morning cuffed and wearing an inmate uniform.
A complaint filed in court says cell phone data showed Routh in the area of the golf course tree line for almost 12 hours on Sunday, ahead of an alleged assassination attempt while Trump golfed at the course.
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What To Watch For
Routh is due back in court for a bond hearing on Sept. 23 and an arraignment on Sept. 30, pending an indictment. Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—Trump’s former opponent in the Republican presidential primary—said Monday his state will conduct its own investigation into the assassination attempt, noting the state has its own “prerogative” separate from that of the federal government.
Key Background
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Sunday that a Secret Service agent saw a gun poking out of a fence at Trump’s club that afternoon and fired at a gunman, who was hiding in shrubbery ahead of where the former president was golfing. A man fled from the bushes after the shots were fired, but left behind an AK-47-style gun with a scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera, authorities said. Whether or not the gunman fired any shots at the former president or back at Secret Service agents is still unclear. Trump was not harmed. A suspect helped police identify the car in which the suspect allegedly left the scene, and Routh was arrested soon after in Martin County, north of Palm Beach. The complaint filed in court says the car Routh was allegedly driving, a Nissan, had license plates from a stolen truck.
Who Is Ryan Wesley Routh?
Routh, a North Carolina native, had lived in Hawaii running a shed-building business with his son for the last five years, according to the Associated Press. His political beliefs appeared to run the gamut, with social media posts suggesting both his early support of Trump in 2016 before a shift to supporting for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the AP reported. He’d made more than a dozen small donations to ActBlue, a committee that supports Democratic candidates, and was registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012. He’d had two run-ins with North Carolina police before his arrest Sunday, according to the Washington Post, including a charge for “carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a weapon of mass destruction” after he barricaded himself inside a local business with a “fully automatic machine gun,” a local paper reported in 2002. Over the last few years, Routh was a passionate supporter of Ukraine. Routh planned to recruit former Afghan soldiers and use fake passports purchased in Pakistan to help move them to Ukraine, according to The New York Times. He co-authored a self-published e-book on Amazon (which is not currently available in the United States) about “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War” and the “Fatal Flaw of Democracy.” In the book, he makes several mentions of Trump, who he voted for in 2016, including that the former president “ended up being brainless.” He added, “You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal.”
