Who is Ryan Wesley Routh? Man arrested for 'attempted assassination' of Trump

A man who authorities say targeted former President Donald Trump at his golf club has been arrested with an AK-47-style weapon.
Trump was golfing at the time of the incident. One of the Secret Service team members noticed a rifle sticking out of a fence and opened fire. The agent fired between four and six shots before the suspect fled the scene. The witness spotted the alleged shooter and took a photo of the suspect's vehicle and license plate, which ultimately helped law enforcement locate the car traveling north on I-95 in Martin County, a county north of Palm Beach.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said the attack appears to be a assassination attempt This is the second time in two months that an apparent assassination attempt has been made against Donald Trump, CNN reported.
The man was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh and is described as a white male in his 60s, found with two backpacks and a Go-Pro camera, as well as the firearm near the perimeter from which the suspect fled.
Who is Ryan Wesley Routh?
Ryan Wesley Routh is a 58-year-old white man with a lengthy criminal record in North Carolina.
The FBI or local authorities have not shared many details, but according to the New York Post citing LinkedIn, the man had attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University but moved to Hawaii around 2018.
Routh describes himself on LinkedIn as having a “mechanical mind” and enjoying “ideas, invention and creative projects with an artistic touch.”
The North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections has records on Routh dating back to 2002. That year, he barricaded himself inside a business with a gun in Greensboro, according to Fox 40 News & Record citing.
In 2003, he was convicted of driving without a license, carrying a concealed weapon and hit and run. In 2010, he was convicted of possession of stolen property.
He was sentenced to probation on all counts, according to the DAC website.
North Carolina's eCourts system has records dating back to 1997 for charges such as lack of an operator's license.
Routh's political vision
Routh frequently posts about politics on social media and has donated exclusively to Democratic candidates and causes since 2019.
In an April 22 post on X, he criticized Trump, saying, “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we can’t lose.” He advised President Biden, who was running for reelection at the time, to focus his campaign on maintaining a “democratic and free America,” saying Trump wants to “make Americans slaves to their masters.”
Even after an assassination attempt on Trump at his Pennsylvania rally, Routh urged Biden to visit victims in the hospital and attend the funeral of a fallen firefighter, suggesting Trump would never do so, the New York Post reported.
On July 16, he posted a message titled, “SHOW THE WORLD WHAT REAL LEADERS DO.” In June 2020, Routh tweeted at Trump, expressing disappointment in the former president’s tenure in the Oval Office, despite having supported him in 2016.