Assassination attempt on Donald Trump: On Sunday, September 15, in Florida, Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old man, attempted to assassinate former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump while he was playing golf at Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach. He was later arrested in another county when he fled the scene in an SUV, leaving behind his two backpacks, a rifle scope and a GoPro camera. The FBI confirmed that the incident was an assassination attempt, the second in two months against the Republican leader.
The previous attempt occurred during a demonstration in Pennsylvania, where he received gunshot wounds to the right ear and the gunman, Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by the Secret Service at the scene. The FBI is still investigating the case.
However, in the second attempt, the gunman has been arrested and the motive for the attack is being investigated.
Who is Ryan Wesley Routh who tried to kill Trump?
- Routh lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Kaaawa, Hawaii, in 2018. He and his son operated a shed-building business, according to an archived version of the company’s website.
- Routh was a frequent user of social media, where he expressed strong desires to participate in armed conflicts in the past, primarily in Ukraine after Russia’s conflict began in 2022. In a post on X, Routh expressed his willingness to “fight and die” in Ukraine.
- “I AM READY TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE UKRAINIAN BORDER TO VOLUNTEER, FIGHT AND DIE,” he wrote.
- He also posted on social media about the war in Ukraine and had a website seeking to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to kyiv and join the fight against the Russian invasion. A photo of Routh posted on the website shows him smiling, wearing a T-shirt and jacket emblazoned with American flags.
- In June 2020, he published a post on X calling on then-President Trump to win reelection by issuing an executive order directing the Department of Justice to prosecute police misconduct. His post suggested that he was a Trump supporter at the time.
- That same year, he also posted in support of the Democratic presidential campaign of Tulsi Gabbard, who has since switched her support to Trump.
- In recent years, her support appears to have shifted toward President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Her posts appear to have displeased Trump.
- In July, after the first assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania, Routh urged Biden and Harris to visit those injured in the shooting in the hospital and attend the funeral of a firefighter killed in the shooting at Trump’s rally.
- “Trump will never do anything for them… show the world what compassion and humanity means,” read one post on Routh’s feed, apparently addressing Harris.
- Voter registration records show he registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, and most recently voted in person during the state’s Democratic Party primary in March 2024.
- Routh also made 19 small political donations totaling $140 since 2019 using his Hawaii address to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates, according to federal campaign finance records.
Assassination attempt on Donald Trump
Former US President and Republican candidate for the November 2024 election Donald Trump faced a second assassination attempt in two months when gunshots were heard outside a golf course in Florida where he was playing, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Sunday (September 15).
How did the incident occur?
The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. local time when Secret Service agents spotted a person with an AK-47 near the golf course. Secret Service agents stationed a few holes from where Trump was playing noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking out from the bushes bordering the course, about 400 yards away. An agent opened fire and the gunman fled the scene in an SUV. The man was later arrested in a neighboring county. His motive remains unclear.
(With AP inputs)
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