(LifeSiteNews) — The 58-year-old man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump on Sunday was a pro-Ukraine American who wanted others to join in the fight. He also has a criminal background, having been convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, according to reports.
Ryan Wesley Routh is in FBI custody after he allegedly tried to kill Trump on Sunday at the president’s country club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Routh reportedly pushed his AK-47 rifle through a fence at the country club before fleeing when Secret Service opened fired. He was arrested by law enforcement soon after.
He traveled to Ukraine in 2022 to fight against Russia and tried to recruit Americans and ex-Afghanistan soldiers to do the same. According to the Daily Mail, citing North Carolina Department of Adult Correction records, Routh was previously convicted 20 years prior in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, but no further details regarding that information have been uncovered.
Routh voted for Trump in 2016 but turned against him because of the president’s stance on Ukraine, according to Newsweek. “While you were my choice in 2016, I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointed and it seems you are getting worse and devolving,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in July, Newsweek reported.
He donated to a handful of Democrats in 2020, according to reporting from Newsweek. The outlet said Routh “appears to have been motivated by frustration with U.S. policy on the war in Ukraine.”
The New York Times interviewed Routh for a story about ill-trained Americans who wanted to join the fight against Russia for an article titled “Stolen Valor: The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker” with a subhed: “People who would not be allowed anywhere near the battlefield in a U.S.-led war are active on the Ukrainian front, with ready access to American weapons.”
“Ryan Routh, a former construction worker from Greensboro, N.C., is seeking recruits from among Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban,” the Times reported in 2023. “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.”
“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he told the newspaper.
He did not actually fight because he was too old and inexperienced, Newsweek reported. Its Romania affiliate had also interviewed Routh several years ago.
“The question as far as why I’m here… to me, a lot of the other conflicts are grey, but this conflict is definitely black and white,” Routh told Newsweek Romania. “This is about good versus evil. This is a storybook, you know, any movie we’ve ever watched, this is definitely evil against good.”
“If the governments will not send their official military, then we, civilians, have to pick up the torch and make this thing happen and we have gotten some wonderful people here but it is a small fraction of the number that should be here,” Routh said.
He reportedly ran a group called the “International Volunteer Center in Ukraine,” according to a 2023 Semafor article. “I have had partners meeting with [Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense] every week and still have not been able to get them to agree to issue one single visa,” Routh said.
The International Legion in Ukraine said it has no links to Routh, as reported recently by Reuters.
Routh had a sketchy past, including reportedly barricading himself inside a building while armed in 2002, the News and Record reported.
“The arrest coincides with North Carolina criminal court records that include Routh’s conviction for possession of a weapon of mass destruction,” NBC News reported.
“Records also show convictions for carrying a concealed weapon, possession of stolen property and hit-and-run,” NBC reported. “In those cases, which included misdemeanor convictions for violations such as resisting an officer and driving on a suspended license, the defendant received a suspended sentence and parole or probation.”
Trump thanks law enforcement, calls it an ‘interesting day’
Late last night Trump put out a message on Truth Social thanking law enforcement and calling Sunday an “interesting day.”
“I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes – It was certainly an interesting day!” he wrote.
“Most importantly, I want to thank the U.S. Secret Service, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and his Office of brave and dedicated Patriots, and, all of Law Enforcement, for the incredible job done today at Trump International in keeping me, as the 45th President of the United States, and the Republican Nominee in the upcoming Presidential Election, SAFE. THE JOB DONE WAS ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING. I AM VERY PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
This article was updated on September 16 at 1:45 p.m. ET.