Donald Trump assassination attempt: Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old man, attempted assassination on former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump on Sunday (September 15) in Florida while the latter was golfing at Trump's golf club in West Palm Beach. He was arrested later in another county as he fled from the spot in an SUV, leaving behind his two backpacks, a scope used for aiming, and a GoPro camera in the vicinity. The FBI has confirmed that the incident was an assassination bid, which was the second in two months on the Republican leader.
The previous attempt was during a rally in Pennsylvania where he received gunshot wounds in his right ear and the gunman, Matthew Crooks, was gunned down by the Secret Service on the spot. The FBI is still investigating the case.
However, in the second attempt, the gunman has been arrested and his motive behind the attack is being investigated.
Who is Ryan Wesley Routh who tried to kill Trump?
- Routh lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Kaaawa, Hawaii, in 2018. He and his son operated a building sheds, according to an archived version of the webpage for the business.
- Routh was a frequent social media user where he expressed strong desires to participate in armed conflict in the past, primarily in Ukraine after Russia's conflict began in 2022. In a post on X, Routh expressed his willingness to "fight and die" in Ukraine.
- "I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE," he wrote.
- He also posted on social media about the war in Ukraine and had a website where he sought to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to Kyiv to join the fight against the Russian invasion. A photo of Routh posted on the webpage shows him smiling, wearing a T-shirt and jacket adorned with American flags.
- In June 2020, he made a post on X in which he asked then-President Trump to win reelection by issuing an executive order directing the Department of Justice to prosecute police misconduct. His post suggested that he was a Trump supporter back then.
- In the same year, he also posted in support of the Democratic presidential campaign of Tulsi Gabbard, who has since shifted her support to Trump.
- In recent years, his support appears to have shifted to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. His posts have seemed to have soured on Trump.
- In July, after the first assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania, Routh urged Biden and Harris to visit those wounded in the shooting at the hospital and attend the funeral of a fireman who was killed in the gunfire at Trump’s rally.
- “Trump will never do anything for them .... show the world what compassion and humanity is all about,” said a post on Routh’s feed, apparently addressing Harris.
- Voter registration records show he registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, most recently voting in-person during the state’s Democratic Party primary in March 2024.
- Routh also made 19 small pollical donations totaling $140 since 2019 using his Hawaii address to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates, according to the federal campaign finance records.
Donald Trump assassination attempt
Former US President and Republican candidate for the November 2024 polls Donald Trump faced a second assassination attempt in two months as gunshots were heard outside a golf course in Florida where he was playing, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Sunday (September 15).
How did the incident take place?
The incident occurred at around 1.30 pm local time as Secret Service agents spotted a person with AK-47 near the golf course. The Secret Service agents posted a few holes up from where Trump was playing noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away. An agent opened fire and the gunman fled the spot in an SUV. The man was later taken into custody in a neighbouring county. His motive is unclear yet.
(With AP inputs)
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