Ryan Wesley Routh Named as Suspect in Trump Assassination Attempt

Ryan Wesley Routh is the suspect in the second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, according to The New York Post and Fox News.

He is 58 years old and from Hawaii, the Post reported. Public records obtained by Wisconsin Right Now show Ryan Wesley Routh, of that age, with addresses in Kaaawa, Hawaii, and communities in North Carolina, including Greensboro and Julian, as well as Gilbert, Arizona.

In a news conference, West Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the gunman was wearing a Go-Pro and toting an AK-47-style rifle, which he stuck through a fence, at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida. A Secret Service agent shot at the gunman after noticing the rifle as he scouted the area before Trump, who was golfing, reached it, authorities said. The gunman hid in shrubbery. Trump was 400-500 yards away, authorities said. The sheriff said the golf course perimeter was not secured because Trump is not a sitting president.

Serious questions remain after the second assassination attempt: How did the suspect make it on the golf course while Trump was playing? How did the gunman get so close to Trump? How did the gunman get off the golf course without being initially apprehended by law enforcement?

“Well, you got to understand, the golf course is surrounded by shrubbery, so when somebody gets into the shrubbery, they’re pretty much out of sight, all right,” Bradshaw said when asked how the shooter got so close to Trump. “And at this level that he is at right now, he’s not the sitting president. If he was, we would have [the area around the] golf course surrounded. But because he’s not, security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible. So I would imagine that the next time he comes at a golf course, there’ll probably be a little bit more people around the perimeter. But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done. They provided exactly what the protection should have been, and their agent did a fantastic job.”

Ryan Wesley Routh “touted his do-gooder credentials and championed left-wing causes on social media,” The Post reported. The Post quoted a LinkedIn page in the name of Ryan Routh of Hawaii, identifying it as the gunman’s page. WRN has directly reviewed that page. That page contains photos of a man named Ryan Routh in a suit in Washington D.C. a year ago, with the caption, “In DC and Kyiv to provide soldiers for the war effort.” Authorities have not confirmed the page as the gunman’s, however.

On it, Routh wrote that he owns a Hawaii shed building company to “build simple economical structures to help address the highest homelessness rate in the United States due to unparalleled gentrification.” He wrote that he has a mechanical engineering degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

The Post also identified an X page as the suspect’s. WRN has also reviewed that page. It demonstrated an obsession with the war in Ukraine and says he fought in Ukraine, supporting Ukraine against Russia. During their only debate, Vice President Kamala Harris expressed support for Ukraine. Trump stressed repeatedly that he would end the war. The page is now suspended, but we saved some of the posts on it.

“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,” the page says. A July 17 post on the X page is directed by the page at Vice President Kamala Harris and reads, “@KamalaHarris You and Biden should visit the injured people in the hospital from the Trump rally and attend the funeral of the murdered fireman. Trump will never do anything for them….show the world what compassion and humanity is all about.” That’s a reference to the first assassination against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“@realDonaldTrump While you were my choice in 2106(sic), I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment and it seems you are getting worse and devolving; are you retarded; I will be glad when you gone,” the page wrote in 2020. A post five days later said, “@JoeBiden Ms Bottoms the mayor or Atlanta looks like a sharp person for VP, I would support her. Did Hillary decline????”

That same year, he posted, “@HillaryClinton Why are you not running with Joe Biden—-come on, you are not my favorite, but we all must do our part to get rid of this idiot that is in the white house…….PLEASE…..do the world a favor.”

The shed building company was described by the Star Advertiser newspaper in Hawaii as a company that “builds storage units and tiny houses.” The newspaper quoted company owner Ryan Routh as saying, “All of us are tired of seeing the homeless people all over the island with nowhere to go.”

News Nation reported, “Routh was convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, according to online North Carolina Department of Adult Correction records.”

Ryan Wesley Roth Social Media Posts Identified, Reports Say

On July 16, the page identified as the gunman’s by the Post wrote, “@JoeBiden You should visit the victims in the hospital of the trump rally victims and attend the funeral of the fireman that died; Trump certainly never would. SHOW THE WORLD WHAT REAL LEADERS DO.” In April, the page wrote, “@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. We cannot afford to fail. The world is counting on us to show the way.”

He also tweeted at Elton John asking for a “tribute song for Ukraine” and at Elon Musk, saying he wanted to buy a rocket from Musk to “end” Vladimir Putin. In another tweet, the page directed a comment at Nikki Haley expressing concern over “students killed, Gaza murders, Ukraine horrors, Taiwan, China murders, freedom, democracy.” Those posts are located under the page’s replies section. His last post was about recruiting Afghan soldiers to Haiti in 2023.

In 2022, the page wrote, “@officialzelensky 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. PLEASE CALL ME.” In another post he wrote, “@VivekGRamaswamy You cannot quit. Why. You must stay on the ballot to the end. You must fight. You must continue giving speeches and push all the way to election day no matter the election results. Do not give in. Join Nikki and keep working. Never give up.”

A 2022 post reads, “Come on people- we cannot sit and do nothing-I am WILLING TO FIGHT AND DIE FOR UKRIANE-we must all join in a civilian army to aid Ukraine. Media must motivate the entire globe to act; it is criminal not to act; we must all fight aggression now. Kids will die.”

In May 2020, he posted anger at the death of George Floyd and wrote, “@realDonaldTrump To resolve this catastrophe- WE NEED FEDERAL OVERSIGHT TO REVIEW ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT, it cannot continue to be left to biased local comrades-YOU HAVE THE POWER TO END ALL OF THIS WITH DOJ INVESTIGATIONS INTO ALL POLICE BRUTALITY-please do something to make change.”

Trump is safe and unharmed, a Secret Service official said in the news conference Sunday evening. Authorities have not yet named Ryan Routh as the suspect; the suspect’s name came through law enforcement sources.

Trump was “playing golf at the time, moving between holes five and six,” CNN reported.

Ryan Wesley Routh: What Is Known About the Assassination Attempt

In Sunday’s attack, authorities gave these facts in the news conference:

• • The call came into the Sheriff’s Department as “shots fired” around 2 p.m., West Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.
  • A witness told Sheriff’s officials, “I saw the guy running out of the bushes. He jumped into a black Nissan.” The witness “took a picture of the vehicle and tag.”
  • The Sheriff’s Department’s real-time crime center put the information out to license plate readers, and authorities “got a hit on that vehicle on I-95.” Another Sheriff’s Department in Florida spotted the vehicle, pulled it over, and “detained the guy.” The witness then identified that man as “the person he saw running out of the bushes,” Bradshaw said.
  • The suspect’s name and background have not been officially released.
  • In the bushes, “where this guy was,” authorities recovered an AK-47 style rifle with a scope, two backpacks that were hung on a fence with ceramic tiles in them, and a Go-Pro the suspect was going to use to “take pictures,” said Bradshaw.
  • Sheriff’s officials praised a Secret Service agent on the golf course who saw a rifle barrel sticking out of the fence. The Secret Service agent then opened fire on the gunman who was “near the property line.”
  • They are moving the suspect to the County Jail. The FBI is the lead investigative agency.
  • State prosecutors are working on warrants and a motion for pretrial detention for the suspect. That does not preclude federal charges.

According to the Washington Times, the suspect did not have time to get a shot off before the agent shot at him.

The assassination attempt, allegedly by Ryan Routh, comes after Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, after the Secret Service failed to clear a nearby roof, among other systemic and egregious security failures. The assassination attempt also comes as Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, have engaged in dangerous and incendiary rhetoric against Trump, such as warning the public that he would be a “dictator” if elected again.