Tallahassee: A gunman attempted to assassinate Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Sunday at his golf course in Palm Beach, Florida, according to authorities. Multiple news outlets, including CNN, Fox News, and The New York Times, have identified the suspect as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh of Hawaii, citing unnamed law enforcement sources. However, the FBI has declined to comment, and Reuters has not independently verified his identity.
Gun Barrel in the Bushes
The Secret Service reported that agents were accompanying Trump on the golf course when one agent, securing the holes ahead of Trump’s arrival, spotted a gun barrel protruding from some bushes near the property line. In response, multiple agents engaged the gunman, firing at least four rounds. The suspect then dropped an AK-47-style rifle, two backpacks, a GoPro camera, and other items before fleeing the scene in a black Nissan car.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw stated that a witness captured a photo of the suspect’s car and license plate, which was provided to the authorities. Shortly after, sheriff’s deputies in neighboring Martin County stopped the suspect on Interstate 95 and took him into custody.
Social Media Activity: Posts on Ukraine and Democracy
International news agency Reuters located profiles for an individual named Ryan Routh on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and LinkedIn. Public access to the Facebook and X profiles was removed just hours after the shooting. The three accounts suggest that Routh was a strong supporter of Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
In a notable post on April 21, Routh addressed Elon Musk on X, stating, “I would like to buy a rocket from you. I wish to load it with a warhead for Putin’s Black Sea mansion bunker to end him. Can you give me a price please.” The New York Times reported having interviewed Routh in 2023 for a story about Americans volunteering to support the Ukrainian war effort. During that interview, Routh claimed he had traveled to Ukraine and spent several months there in 2022, recruiting Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban to join the fight in Ukraine.
Routh’s posts also reflect political leanings. In 2020, he expressed support for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on X and mocked then-candidate Joe Biden as “sleepy Joe.” In a more recent post earlier this year, Routh tagged Biden, writing: “@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.”
Also Read | North Korea’s New Uranium Enrichment Facility: Analysts Link Photos to Secret Site
Family Response
When contacted by Reuters at his workplace in Hawaii, Routh’s son, Adam, stated he had not been informed about the Trump assassination attempt and found it hard to believe his father would be involved in such an act. Later, the reporter called back, and a colleague said Adam had gone home due to an emergency.
Another of Routh’s sons, Oran, provided a statement to CNN, describing his father as “a loving and caring father,” and added, “I don’t know what’s happened in Florida, and I hope things have just been blown out of proportion.”
