Ryan Wesley Routh
Ryan Wesley Routh | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | February 18, 1966 |
| Nationality | USA |
| Occupation | roofing contractor |
| Known for | Alleged to have tried to shoot former President Donald Trump |
Notable work |
Ukraine's Unwinnable War |
| Spouse(s) | Lora Frances Wilson (January 1989--January 22, 2003)[1] |
| Children | |
Ryan Wesley Routh is an American building contractor, who was charged, on September 15, 2024, for planning to shoot former President Donald Trump.[2]
In the summer of 2022, not long after Russia invaded Ukraine, Routh traveled to Ukraine to volunteer to work to provide humanitarian aid.[2] In 2023, after he returned from Ukraine, in an interview with the New York Times, Routh said he planned to contact Afghan soldiers, living in Pakistan and Iran, and try to recruit them to volunteer to fight for Ukraine.[3][4] The New Indian misquoting his New York Times interview, characterized him as a mercenary, even though he had clearly said he was just a civilian.[5]
Routh had been prepared to fight, but he had been turned down, because he was too old, and lacked any military experience.[3][4][6]
After his arrest Reuters was able to find an interview with Routh that had been published in Newsweek Romania.[6] In that interview he characterized the decision to aid Ukraine as a black or white issue.
Reuters contacted several leaders of NGOs, providing material and military assistance to Ukraine, and found they all claimed that they had no record of any contact with Routh.[6]
Trump's Secret Service protective detail noticed Routh's gun barrel while patroling a golf course on which Trump was playing a game of golf.[2] They fired on Routh, who fled. A civilian bystander saw him flee, and took a picture of his vehicle, clear enough for law enforcement to read his license plate.
Law enforcement officials, using the picture provided to them by the civilian, were able to quickly capture Routh, without any injuries.[2]
Routh had criticized Trump on social media.[7]
Personal life
[edit | edit source]In January 1989, Routh was married to Lora Frances Wilson, and had at least one son.[8][9][10] They divorced in 2003.[11]
In 1991 Routh was profiled by the Greensboro News and Record after local police honored him for playing a role in thwarting another man's attempt to rape a local woman.[12]
In 2018, Routh moved from Greensboro, North Carolina, to Kaʻaʻawa, Hawaii.[13]
In November, 2019, an article in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser covered efforts to address Hawaii's large number of homeless individuals by supplying them with affordable "tiny homes".[14] The article noted Routh was about to build ten tiny homes, of approximately 100 square feet (9.3 m2).
After his September 15, 2024 arrest, his son, Oran Routh, told reporters he was not aware his father had left Hawaii.[2]
After his arrest reporters interviewed his neighbors, from both North Carolina and Hawaii.[15] Accounts vary widely, with some calling him friendly and helpful, and even charismatic, while others say he inspired fear.
Convictions and charges
[edit | edit source]In December 2002, Routh was convicted of possessing a firearm; resisting, delaying and obstructing a law enforcement officer and driving with license revoked after a three-hour stand off with police. He was pulled over during a traffic stop, put his hand on a gun and then drove to a nearby business, where he barricaded himself inside.[16][17][18]
In 2003, he was sentenced for driving without a license, carrying a concealed weapon and hit-and-run. In 2010 he was convicted of possessing stolen goods. For each of these charges he was given probation.[19]
On September 16, 2024, the day after Donald Trump's Secret Service protective detail fired on him, because they believed he was lying in wait to try to shoot Trump, two gun charges were filed against Routh.[20] NBC News reported he "faces one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number."
Account of former police officer Eric Rasecke
[edit | edit source]Multiple news organizations reached out and interviewed retired police officer Eric Rasecke, because his former patrol beat included Routh's house and business.[21] Rasecke told them he had over one hundred official encounters with Routh, and frequently ran into him, when he was off-duty.
- Rasecke said Routh had an air of entitlement, as if the law didn't apply to him, that included routinely failing to keep the license plates on his vehicles current.[21]
- Rasecke said Routh routinely acted like he was being victimized.[21]
Rasecke described Routh as a successful contractor, in the early 1990s, who later went into a physical and mental decline, which he attributed to an addiction to crack.[21] He said Routh underwent an extreme weigh loss, and lost most of his teeth - typical among crack addicts.
He said that, when he attended at Routh's home, Routh typically went outside, and spoke to him on his porch, rather than invite him inside.[21] However, he was authorized to enter Routh's home when he escorted other country officials, on official business. He described the home as a kind of flophouse, with beat up furniture, where he let his homeless employees crash on a half dozen mattresses lying on the floor. He said the house had a heavy odor of marijuana.
Political activities
[edit | edit source]Voter records show that he was an unaffiliated voter.[22]
According to posts on his X account in 2020, Routh has expressed shifting political views over the years. In 2016, he supported Donald Trump, but by 2020, he voiced his dissatisfaction and criticised him on social media, stating, "I will be glad when you are gone."[23][24][7] Routh also supported Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, in 2020,[23] criticizing Joe Biden as "sleepy Joe". His political stance evolved further in 2024, where he expressed concern over democracy in a post tagging Biden, and telling him his campaign slogan should be "Keep America Democratic and Free."[25] In 2020, he also supported Tulsi Gabbard, calling for an executive order on police misconduct[26] and he made several small donations to the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, contributing 19 times in 2019 and 2020 with amounts ranging from $1 to $25, as recorded by the Federal Election Commission.[27] By early 2024, he suggested a Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy ticket for the Republican primary.[10] Later in 2024, he voted in the Democratic primary in Guilford County, North Carolina.[17]
Other posts indicate he believed in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, specifically those related to biological warfare.[28] Routh also posted a historical map of Palestine in Roman times to argue that Jews have no right to the land.[29]
In the summer of 2022, not long after Russia invaded Ukraine, Routh traveled to Ukraine to volunteer to work to provide humanitarian aid.[2] In 2023, after he returned from Ukraine, in an interview with the New York Times, Routh said he planned to contact Afghan soldiers, living in Pakistan and Iran, and try to recruit them to volunteer to fight for Ukraine.[3][4] The New Indian misquoting his New York Times interview, characterized him as a mercenary, even though he had clearly said he was just a civilian.[5]
Routh had been prepared to fight, but he had been turned down, because he was too old, and lacked any military experience.[3][4][6]
After his arrest Reuters was able to find an interview with Routh that had been published in Newsweek Romania.[6] In that interview he characterized the decision to aid Ukraine as a black or white issue.
Reuters contacted several leaders of NGOs, providing material and military assistance to Ukraine, and found they all claimed that they had no record of any contact with Routh.[6] CNN noted that photos Routh had taken and uploaded did indeed geolocate to Ukraine.[30]
Routh claimed on his social media accounts, as well as in 2022 interviews with The New York Times and Newsweek Romania, to have made efforts to recruit soldiers for Ukraine in its fight against its invasion by Russia.
Routh said in a 2022 interview with a Romanian reporter in Kyiv that he flew to Ukraine to join the army in the months after Russia's full-scale invasion but learned that he was "not an ideal candidate" for the battlefield because he was in his mid-50s with no military experience.[17][31] Later in 2022, Routh said in an interview that after he was rejected for military service, he began recruiting volunteer soldiers for the Ukrainian military.[32] Routh complained of roadblocks to Ukraine admitting foreign fighters, telling the publication Semafor "Ukraine is very often hard to work with, they're afraid that anybody and everybody is a Russian spy".[33]
Taiwan News reported on June 2022 that Routh had placed a wall of banner consisting of many national flags including that of Taiwan, on a wall in Kyiv, Ukraine.[34]
Routh's book, "Ukraine's Unwinnable War"
[edit | edit source]
In 2023 Routh published a 291 page book, entitled "Ukraine's Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the end of Humanity".[35]
He explicitly mentions Donald Trump 9 times in his book.[35] Commentators note that in his book he explicitly called on Iran to assassinate Trump. In a chapter on Iran, after praising John Kerry's negotiations with Iran, he offered Iran permission to kill both himself, and Donald Trump, writing:
- I must take part of the blame for the retarded child we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless, but I am man enough to say I misjudged and made a terrible mistake and Iran I apologize. You are free to assasinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and dismantling the deal.[35]
A review published by Aol called his book "sprawling". It noted Routh compared himself to George Orwell, when he went to Spain, to aid the Spanish Republicans, during the Spanish Civil War. The review also observes "Graphic images of violence from Iran, Afghanistan and other parts of the world are also scattered throughout the book."
See also
[edit | edit source]
See also
[edit | edit source]- Oran Routh -- his son
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
Naman Trivedi (2025-09-24). "Ryan Routh Family: All On Ex Wife Lora And Children Sara, Adam, And Oran Alexander Routh". Times Now News. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
Ryan Routh married Lora Frances Wilson in January 1989. Together, they had three children: a daughter named Sara and two sons, Adam and Oran Alexander Routh. The couple divorced after Routh filed for divorce on January 22, 2003, with the divorce finalized two months later on March 10.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5
Ramon Antonio Vargas (2024-09-16). "Son of suspect speaks after apparent Trump assassination attempt in Florida". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
However, many on X noted how the political views espoused by the account under Routh’s name were not exclusively pro-Democrat. The account described voting for Trump in 2016 and expressed support for a White House ticket combining the unsuccessful Republican presidential primary contenders Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3
Justin Scheck, Thomas Gibbons-Neff (2023-03-25). "The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
With Legion growth stalling, Ryan Routh, a former construction worker from Greensboro, N.C., is seeking recruits from among Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban. Mr. Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he planned to move them, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine. He said dozens had expressed interest.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3
Thomas Gibbons-Neff (2024-09-16). "A New York Times Reporter Revisits Earlier Interview With Suspect at Trump Golf Course". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
When I talked to Mr. Routh in March of last year, he had compiled a list of hundreds of Afghans spread between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan whom he wanted to fly, somehow, to Ukraine. Mr. Routh told one Afghan he was helping 'I am just a civilian.'
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "US mercenary plans to recruit Pakistani-based Afghan refugees as fighters for Ukraine". THE NEW INDIAN. 2023-04-01. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5
Anastasiia Malenko, Pavel Polityuk (2024-09-16). "Ryan Routh, reported suspect in Trump assassination attempt, backed Ukraine in war". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
When asked about what he was doing in Ukraine, Routh said his initial goal was to come to fight but after the plan did not work out, because his age and lack of military experience meant he was not accepted, he turned to promoting the cause to others.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1
Michelle Shen; Paul LeBlanc; Isabelle D’Antonio; Jack Forrest; Maureen Chowdhury; Kathleen Magramo; Lex Harvey (2024-09-15). "Live updates: FBI investigating apparent assassination attempt of Trump in Florida". CNN. Archived from the original on 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
The person detained is Ryan Wesley Routh, according to three law enforcement sources. Routh, who owns a small construction company in Hawaii, had criticized Trump on social media.
- ↑ "Marriage Licenses". News and Record. 1989-01-08. p. 107. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ↑ Vogel, Mike (1990-04-21). "ACCOMPLISHING A MIRACLE RENOVATION FULFILLS DREAM FOR COUPLE". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Guzman, Chad de (2024-09-24). "What We Know—and Don't Know—So Far About the Trump Golf Course Shooter". Time magazine. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ↑ Rohrlich, Justin (2024-09-24). "Ex-employee of Trump shooting suspect recalls police standoff and 'stupid' behavior". The Independent. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ↑
Bernie Woodall (2024-09-18). "CRIMEFIGHTING PAYS\ POLICE ORGANIZATION HONORS 'SUPER CITIZEN'". Greensboro News and Record. Archived from the original on 2024-09-15. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
But what he did – fight and chase a suspected rapist and later assist police in an investigation – makes him a super citizen if not a super hero. For his efforts, Routh was awarded a Law Enforcement Oscar by the Greensboro chapter of the International Union of Police Association. A statue shaped like an Academy Award rests on the mantle of his living room. Routh received the Oscar for being the 'citizen of the year.'
- ↑
"5 things to know about the apparent assassination attempt on Trump at one of his golf courses". AP News. 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
Records show Routh, 58, lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving in 2018 to Kaaawa, Hawaii, where he and his son operated a company building sheds, according to an archived version of the webpage for the business.
- ↑ Dan Nakaso (2019-11-18). "'Kauhale' homeless concept generating offers of donations". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
- ↑ Michael Perchick (2024-09-16). "Donald Trump assassination suspect previously lived in Greensboro, NC, voted in Democrat primary". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
- ↑ "5 things to know about the apparent assassination attempt on Trump at one of his golf courses". AP News. 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Henderson, Barney; Lewis, Kaitlin (2024-09-15). "Ryan Wesley Routh, would-be Trump assassin, fought in Ukraine, supports war". Newsweek magazine. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ↑ "MAN WITH GUN BARRICADES SELF INSIDE BUSINESS". Greensboro News and Record. 2002-12-16. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ↑ Mikkelsen, Emily; Skipper, Elijah; Melrose, Justyn (2024-09-15). "Greensboro neighbor describes man accused of attempting Trump assassination, says 'a lot of people were afraid of him'". Fox 8. Retrieved 2024-09-15.
- ↑ Kevin Breuninger (2024-09-16). "Suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt charged with two gun crimes, appears in court". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4
Audrey Conklin (2024-09-18). "Trump assassination plot exposes Ryan Routh's bomb bust, barricade with illegal gun". Fox News. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
Routh's arrest record in Guilford County, North Carolina, spans between the 1980s and 2010, and his charges range from writing multiple bad checks to felony firearm possession, possession of a stolen vehicle and multiple counts of possession of a weapon of mass destruction in 2002 — specifically, a 'binary explosive with a 10-in[ch] detonation cord and a blasting cap.'
- ↑ Breen, Kerry; Schecter, Anna (2024-09-15). "What's known about Ryan Wesley Routh, suspect in possible Trump assassination attempt". CBS News. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 "NC neighbors recall interactions with man charged in 'assassination attempt' of Trump" (video). ABC11 Raleigh-Durham via YouTube. 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
- ↑ "Suspect in Donald Trump assassination attempt may have been 'politically motivated' ADL says". The Jerusalem Post. 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ↑ Brooks, Brad (2024-09-24). "Ryan Routh: What we know about suspect in Trump assassination attempt". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ↑ "Ryan Wesley Routh: What we know about suspect in Trump assassination attempt in Palm Beach County". WPTV News Channel 5 West Palm. 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ↑ "Man in custody after Trump golf club incident was once convicted of possessing a machine gun". NBC News. 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ↑ Brennan, David; Looft, Chris. "Ryan Wesley Routh: What we know about suspect in Trump 'attempted assassination'". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ↑ "Trump's would-be-assassin previously voted for him, believes Jews have no right to Holy Land". The Times of Israel.
- ↑
Isabelle Chapman; Casey Tolan; Curt Devine; Audrey Ash (2024-09-16). "From Ukraine to Hawaii, odd behavior of suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt suggested 'delusion of grandeur'". CNN. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
Photos geolocated by CNN show Routh posing with pro-Ukranian signs, as well as a large number of drones, at Kyiv’s Maidan Square.
- ↑ "EXCLUSIV Recrutor pentru Legiunea Internațională: Vă încurajez să veniți și să luptați în Ucraina" [EXCLUSIVE International Legion Recruiter: I encourage you to come and fight in Ukraine]. Newsweek Romania (in română). June 14, 2022. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ↑ Pinho, Faith E.; Nelson, Laura J.; Winton, Richard (2024-09-24). "Trump assassination attempt suspect said he had hoped to fight in Ukraine". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ↑ "Man in custody after Trump golf club incident was once convicted of possessing a machine gun". NBC News. 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ↑ Everington, Keoni (2022-06-08). "American posts Taiwan flag in Kyiv to honor Taiwanese soldiers in Ukraine". Taiwan News. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 Ryan Routh (2023-02-28). Kathleen Shaffer (ed.). Ukraine's Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the end of Humanity. p. 291. ASIN B0BX4W9XKT.
<ref> tag with name "Fox2024-12-19" defined in <references> is not used in prior text.External links
[edit | edit source]https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/us/politics/routh-trump-hawaii.html
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6362084924112
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/trump-assassination-suspect-ryan-routh-224500856.html
https://www.newsnationnow.com/crime/trump-florida-suspect-ryan-wesley-routh/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izgrmxj5aik
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/15/politics/trump-attempted-assassination-man-detained/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/25/world/europe/volunteers-us-ukraine-lies.html
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article292565284.html#story
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article292551724.html
https://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-trump-attempted-assassination-ryan-wesley-routh/story?id=113720624
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/15/politics/trump-attempted-assassination-man-detained/index.html
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article292551964.html
https://nypost.com/2024/09/16/us-news/ryan-wesley-routh-urged-iran-to-kill-donald-trump-in-book/
https://nypost.com/2024/09/16/us-news/ryan-wesley-routh-urged-iran-to-kill-donald-trump-in-book/
https://www.rte.ie/news/us/2024/0916/1470241-ryan-routh/
https://aol.com/donald-trump-assassination-suspect-ryan-160019747.html
https://time.com/7021494/ryan-wesley-routh-trump-golf-course-shooter-politics-iran-ukraine/
[5] }}
- ↑
Anastasiia Malenko, Pavel Polityuk (2024-09-16). "Ryan Routh, reported suspect in Trump assassination attempt, backed Ukraine in war". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
When asked about what he was doing in Ukraine, Routh said his initial goal was to come to fight but after the plan did not work out, because his age and lack of military experience meant he was not accepted, he turned to promoting the cause to others.
- ↑ "US mercenary plans to recruit Pakistani-based Afghan refugees as fighters for Ukraine". THE NEW INDIAN. 2023-04-01. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
- ↑
Justin Scheck, Thomas Gibbons-Neff (2023-03-25). "The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
With Legion growth stalling, Ryan Routh, a former construction worker from Greensboro, N.C., is seeking recruits from among Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban. Mr. Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he planned to move them, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine. He said dozens had expressed interest.
- ↑
Thomas Gibbons-Neff (2024-09-16). "A New York Times Reporter Revisits Earlier Interview With Suspect at Trump Golf Course". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
When I talked to Mr. Routh in March of last year, he had compiled a list of hundreds of Afghans spread between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan whom he wanted to fly, somehow, to Ukraine. Mr. Routh told one Afghan he was helping 'I am just a civilian.'
- ↑
Vargas, Ramon Antonio (2024-09-16). "Son of suspect speaks after apparent Trump assassination attempt in Florida". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
However, many on X noted how the political views espoused by the account under Routh’s name were not exclusively pro-Democrat. The account described voting for Trump in 2016 and expressed support for a White House ticket combining the unsuccessful Republican presidential primary contenders Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley.