3 days Ago By Jeremiah Hassel
Amid the accusations , the man who an "attempted assassination" on Sunday, it was reported that a man of the same name was arrested and charged with possessing a weapon of mass destruction in 2002. It has not yet been confirmed whether the Ryan Routh who was charged with the crime — which was accompanied by a charge of carrying a concealed weapon — is the same Ryan Routh who was reportedly arrested on Sunday for attempting to assassinate . But the ages and locations seem to fit hauntingly well with what's known about the man accused of poking the muzzle of an AK-47 through the fence at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach at approximately 1:30 p.
m. on Sunday. North Carolina Department of Adult Correction records show that a Ryan Routh was apprehended in 2002 after a three-hour-long standoff with the police.
The then-36-year-old allegedly barricaded himself inside a roofing business after being pulled over for a traffic stop and placing his hand on a gun — which was later identified as a pistol. The other weapon, which was found with Routh — either in his vehicle or in the business inside of which he had barricaded himself, was described as "a fully automatic machine gun," according to the News & Record, which reported on the incident at the time. Ultimately, Routh was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a weapon of mass destruction, the former charge relating to the pistol as the latter related to the machine gun.
The Ryan Routh who was arrested on Sunday in connection with the attempted shooting is 58, CNN reported, and lives in Hawaii but is from North Carolina, where he works as a construction worker. That Ryan Routh would have been 36 in 2002, just like the one who incurred a charge related to possessing a weapon of mass destruction. It's believed Routh was also charged with eight other minor crimes dating back to the 1990s related to a failure to pay taxes, but that hasn't been confirmed, nor is it known whether those charges were incurred by the same Routh.
The Routh who was arrested on Sunday reportedly operated several social media pages, where he professed an obsession with the war in Ukraine after the country's invasion by Russia in February 2022. He claimed to have gone to Ukraine to fight as he also attempted to recruit Afghan soldiers in some posts, it was revealed. Routh allegedly moved to Kaaawa, Hawaii, in 2018, with his son, where they began a shed-building business.
He had previously lived in North Carolina for most of his life, and it's not entirely clear what prompted him to leave. None of the information in his posts nor any of the other information about him has been corroborated by the authorities. Routh was arrested on Sunday afternoon on Interstate 95 about 45 miles north of the golf course where, minutes earlier, he was allegedly spotted by a man walking along the street nearby fleeing the bushes in which he had been hiding with an AK-47.
The Secret Service reportedly noticed the muzzle of a gun poking through the fence near the sixth hole of the golf course — Trump had been on the fifth hole at the time. An agent engaged the gunman, firing toward him, at which point the witness said the gunman dropped the AK-47, which had a scope, and fled in a black Nissan SUV. The witness captured pictures and video of the incident, which contained the license plate of the vehicle, and then presented that footage to the authorities, who used it to track the man and his vehicle down.
When the area the man had posted himself up in was searched, the authorities found the gun, two backpacks and a GoPro camera, which he reportedly intended to use to film the shooting he was planning on conducting. Routh was arrested moments later, having been found in the vehicle captured on video by the witness. The plate was corroborated, and it was later discovered that the vehicle was registered to Routh's daughter.
When Routh was apprehended, he was reportedly weaponless, and he turned himself in with a calm, flat demeanor, never once asking why he had been pulled over as he mindlessly complied with the authorities and traveled with them to be interviewed. He reportedly hasn't spoken to them since his arrest. David Aronberg, State Attorney for Palm Beach County, told CNN that Routh "knew enough to stay silent" as he added, "He did not apparently speak to officers.
He was calm. So, it looked like a person who has done this before, not necessarily this crime, but someone who has had repeated interactions with law enforcement." The witness was flown to the scene and confirmed to the authorities that Routh had been the one he saw leaving the shrubs after being shot at by the Secret Service.
Charges against the man, who was described as "loving" and "hardworking" by his son, Oran, who spoke to CNN, are still pending, as is the investigation into the incident. Former President Trump is "safe," his spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said in a statement as he confirmed "gunshots in [Trump's] vicinity." Several politicians on both sides of the aisle offered their support for him as they condemned political violence.
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