4 things to know about Ryan Wesley Routh, suspect in possible Trump assassination attempt

Here are four things to know about Routh.

Ukraine supporter

Routh’s social media shows that he was a passionate supporter of Ukraine. He even travelled overseas hoping to fight in the country’s war against Russia in 2022. However, things didn’t turn out as he expected, the CBS News report said.

In an interview with Newsweek Romania in 2022, he said, “My initial goal was to come fight … but I’m 56, so initially they were like, I have no military experience, so they were like, you’re not an ideal candidate. So they said, not right this minute. So plan B was to come here to Kyiv and promote getting more people here.”

Routh tried to recruit Afghan fighters, who had fled the Taliban, to aid Ukraine and urged people to take arms for the country, offering to help connect them with military units. It is not clear if his efforts ever succeeded.

Routh also wrote a 291-page book last year about his disillusionment surrounding Ukraine, according to an Amazon listing that was selling it for $2.99, The Washington Post said.

Brush with the law

Routh — a former roofing contractor from Greensboro, North Carolina — faced criminal charges for two separate incidents in 2002 for possession of a weapon of mass destruction, according to The Washington Post.

He pleaded guilty to the first charge in April 2002 — other details about the incident were not publicly available.

In the second incident, he was charged with misdemeanours, including a hit-and-run offence, resisting arrest, and a concealed weapons violation.

A ‘super citizen’

Much before his issues with the law, Routh was once dubbed a “super citizen” and awarded a Law Enforcement Oscar by the Greensboro chapter of the International Union of Police Association. This happened after Routh in 1991 assisted in helping defend a woman against an alleged rapist. The Washington Post published a profile of him that year with the headline: “Crimefighting pays”.

Critic of Trump

Routh voted Democratic and in person during the 2024 primary election, according to CBS News. However, he appears to be registered as an unaffiliated voter.

His X account, which has now been suspended, included a number of posts about Trump, CBS News said.

“@realDonaldTrump 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 disappointment and it seems you are getting worse and devolving,” he wrote in a June 2020 post. “I will be glad when you gone.”