Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old former roofing contractor from Greensboro, North Carolina, was arrested on Sunday in connection with an alleged assassination attempt on former US President Donald J. Trump.
Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old former roofing contractor from Greensboro, North Carolina, was arrested on Sunday in connection with an alleged assassination attempt on former US President Donald J. Trump. According to the FBI, Routh had expressed a desire to fight in Ukraine and had a history of making violent, extremist statements online.
complete tweets, replies and accounts followed for ryan wesley routh, reported suspect in custody for possible assassination attempt on trump with ak-47 today. full of NATO & State Department stuff. pic.twitter.com/O4CjrI7s6q
— End Israeli Genocide in Gaza | Free Palestine (@tcollier7)Social media companies like Meta/Facebook are working quickly to delete the pages of Trump assassin Ryan Wesley Routh.
Thanks to , who managed to archive his entire Facebook page, we have a record of it.
The page contained posts about recruiting mercenaries for… pic.twitter.com/GiUXowBBko
Routh's online posts and communications paint a picture of a man deeply engaged in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Routh took to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), where he openly declared his willingness to travel to Ukraine to participate in the war.
In a post from early 2022, he wrote, “I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE.” This was just one of several public declarations of his intent to engage in the conflict.
The news is fake, the war is real🔥
Don Jrs TS 6:53 est
Q1823
Do you believe in coincidences? Nope!
Ryan Routh’s post date is really sus.
3/14/22
Pi > ties to JFK
This drop was 916 days ago.
Q916
We are saving Israel for last.
Second pointer to drop w Sheriff Scott Israel… pic.twitter.com/ew4kEXqAZE
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Mar 15, 2022
I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE-Will I be able to cross to border to fight without a Visa????Every citizen around the globe should be running to Ukraine to fight; Can I be the example We must win
pic.twitter.com/0w5Dz1HFgF
This is Donald Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, he was interviewed by Newsweek Romania in 2022.
He’s a zealot for Ukraine war because he’s been fully propagandized by corporate media to support the war.
He has ZERO idea what the…
Ngo investigates: I've found more video and photos of Ryan W. Routh in Ukraine in 2022. Routh is the pro-Ukraine war recruiter accused of almost assassinating Trump at his Florida golf course on Sept. 15.
Routh was so dedicated to Ukraine that he cut the grass at Independence… pic.twitter.com/0E64mwEv4Z
In interviews with The New York Times in 2023, Routh revealed his ambitions to recruit Afghan soldiers to join the Ukrainian war effort. Despite having no military experience himself, he said that he traveled to Ukraine shortly after the invasion and sought to move Afghan soldiers—some of whom had fled the Taliban—from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine. Routh claimed that “dozens” of these soldiers had expressed interest in fighting for Ukraine and mentioned plans to smuggle them across borders, using corrupt officials in Pakistan to purchase fake passports. However, it remains unclear whether Routh’s plans were ever executed.
“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he had said.
🚨🚨🚨🚨 RYAN ROUTH CLAIMED TO BE AN AGENT FOR FOREIGN MERCENARIES. Ryan Routh claims to have spent 6 months in Ukraine and traveled to other war-ravaged countries where he maintained a network of military connections in Taiwan, North Korea, Ukraine and Afghanistan. He offered… pic.twitter.com/rDfkC9mBgW
— 🇺🇸 Freedom Piper 🇺🇸 (@FreeThinkerInc)The Trump shooter Ryan Routh getting scolded by a member of the International Legion in Ukraine for pretending to be working for the Legion.
Ryan tries to switch topics and says he “lives in Hawaii on beautiful sandy beach with beautiful girls in bikinis all day” pic.twitter.com/Ozw7Zsv3mN
Routh had also interacted with the US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, commonly known as the Helsinki Commission, which is composed of congressional members and aides and focuses on issues of democracy and security in Europe. He claimed to have met with the commission in Washington to advocate for increased support for Ukraine. In communications shared with The New York Times, he expressed impatience and hostility towards anyone opposing his views, at one point suggesting that an American foreign fighter "needs to be shot" after a disagreement over social media.
In addition to his involvement with Ukraine, Routh exhibited erratic behaviour and a penchant for bizarre political commentary. On the encrypted messaging app Signal, his profile bio read, “Civilians must change this war and prevent future wars,” while on WhatsApp, his bio read, “Each one of us must do our part daily in the smallest steps help support human rights, freedom and democracy; we each must help the Chinese.”
He also expressed admiration for former Representative Tulsi Gabbard, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, praising her efforts to broker peace deals in conflict zones like Syria and Afghanistan. In a series of posts on X, Routh said, "She will tirelessly negotiate peace deals in Syria, Afghanistan, and all turmoil zones.”
Routh’s history of violent tendencies and strange rhetoric extends back over two decades. In 2002, a man of the same name and age was arrested in Greensboro, N.C., after barricading himself in a building with a fully automatic machine gun. According to the Greensboro News Record, he was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possessing the machine gun, although it remains unclear how those charges were resolved.
Routh’s recent social media activity included posts inviting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to visit Hawaii for a vacation, offering to act as an "ambassador and liaison" between North Korea and the United States. At some point in the last few years, Routh moved to Hawaii, where he reportedly ran a small business.
He voted for Trump in 2016 but he was later disappointed in him. /1 pic.twitter.com/UjrrVjAr7V
— The Gas Stove (@TheGasStovee)He may be supporting Kamala Harris this time /2 pic.twitter.com/IaJGSqlfK9
— The Gas Stove (@TheGasStovee)Despite his online extremism and history of criminal behaviour, Routh appeared calm when deputies stopped him on Interstate 95 following the assassination attempt on Trump. Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder told local media that Routh did not resist arrest, did not ask why he was being detained, and was unarmed when taken into custody.