Ryan Wesley Routh at a rally to help civilians in Ukraine in September 2024 – Photo: AFP
American media have identified Ryan Wesley Routh as the suspect in an alleged assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to AFP on Monday. The agency also noted that it had interviewed Routh in Kyiv in 2022, where he had gone to support Ukrainians.
Authorities reported that an armed man attempted to assassinate Trump on his golf course in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, as noted by Reuters. CNN, Fox News, and The New York Times, citing anonymous security officials, identified the suspect as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh from Hawaii.
According to US media, Routh was arrested after Secret Service agents “opened fire on a man armed” with an AK-47 near Trump’s golf course. The former president was on the premises at the time of the incident. Routh initially escaped into some bushes and tried to flee in a black car but was eventually apprehended.
CNN and CBS reported that Routh worked as an independent home builder in Hawaii and had a criminal record spanning decades. He frequently published articles on political topics and had criticized Trump in the past.
Routh was a vocal supporter of Ukraine after the Russian invasion. In March 2022, he tweeted: “I am ready to board a plane to Krakow, head to the Ukrainian border, enlist as a volunteer, fight, and die… Can I be the example that we need to win?”
AFP also mentioned that it had interviewed Routh in Kyiv in April 2022, where he participated in a demonstration supporting Ukrainians trapped in the port city of Mariupol. “Putin is a terrorist, and he must be stopped. We need everyone, from all over the world, to drop what they’re doing and come here now,” Routh told AFP at the time.
According to Reuters, The New York Times also interviewed Routh in 2023 for an article about Americans volunteering to support Ukraine’s war effort. Routh revealed that he had spent several months in Ukraine in 2022 and had been trying to recruit Afghan soldiers, who had fled from the Taliban, to fight in Ukraine.
Support for Ukraine remains a major issue in the U.S., with President Joe Biden firmly backing Kyiv. His political successor, Vice President Kamala Harris, has pledged to continue that support if elected. In contrast, Donald Trump avoided answering whether he wants Ukraine to win during a debate with Harris.
