This is the man that wanted to shoot Trump on his golf course
Has Donald Trump crawled through the eye of the needle for the second time in just two months? It sure looks like it!
On Sunday afternoon, a 58-year-old construction worker fired shots from several hundred yards away at the Trump International Golf Course West Palm Beach. The Republican presidential candidate was playing golf there at the time, but was able to get to safety. A Secret Service agent had spotted the man, after which he ran and then continued to flee with the car. However, he was able to be intercepted by police.
Police at the scene found an AK-47-style rifle with a sight, two backpacks and a GoPro camera in the bushes where the suspect had been seen, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said. Inside the backpacks were ceramic tiles. It is possible the suspect wanted to use them as armor.
Pro-Ukrainian activist
Meanwhile, more and more is becoming known about the man who wanted to shoot Trump. The 58-year-old construction worker has been arrested several times in the past for minor offenses. His name is said to be Ryan Wesley Routh, a self-employed construction worker from Hawaii. The man was an active volunteer in Ukraine. Ryan's LinkedIn reports to us a history of creative projects and mechanical work. The man worked at a shed construction company.
BBC Verify has found social media profiles that match that name, they indicate he was calling on foreign fighters to go to Ukraine to fight Russian troops.
Routh, who had no military experience, told the New York Times in 2023 that he had traveled to Ukraine immediately after the Russian invasion in 2022 to find military recruits among Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban.
“Soldiers, please don't call me. We are still trying to get Ukraine to accept Afghan soldiers and hope to get some answers in the next few months.... please be patient,” he wrote on Facebook in July.
(SR for Tagtik/Source: NBC - ABC - CNN - BBC Verify/Photo: Facebook)