12PUNTO FOREIGN NEWS
The person who opened fire on former President Donald Trump with an AK-47 style rifle on Sunday afternoon has been identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh. It was determined that Routh has a criminal record spanning several decades.
Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested shortly after the incident at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Authorities stated that Secret Service agents fired at Routh after seeing the barrel of his AK-47 protruding from the fence surrounding the golf course, approximately 500 meters from where Trump was playing golf.
Fox News reporter Lucas Tomlinson confirmed that the Secret Service opened fire after seeing a man raising an AK-47.
The Secret Service views the incident as an assassination attempt on Trump.
HAS A NUMEROUS CRIMINAL RECORD
In their investigation into Ryan Wesley Routh, detectives discovered that he currently lives in Hawaii and has a criminal record with dozens of entries dating back at least to the 1990s.
Routh's record includes offenses such as simple drug possession, driving without a license, expired inspection, and driving without insurance. Information that Routh is from North Carolina was also shared with the public.
PREVIOUSLY CLASHED WITH POLICE
The US press reported that Routh had previously engaged in a standoff with police.
The Greensboro News & Record alleged that in 2002, Routh barricaded himself on the roof of a building at the scene following a traffic stop and engaged in a 3-hour standoff with police.
Speaking to the press after the incident on Sunday afternoon, an official said of the detained suspect, 'This does not look like just any guy walking outside Trump's club with an AK-47'.
According to records, Routh moved to Hawaii in 2017. According to a LinkedIn page understood to belong to Routh, the North Carolina native has since founded a construction company in Hawaii that builds simple housing structures for the homeless.
According to authorities, Routh fled in an SUV after a Secret Service agent opened fire on him, but was arrested shortly thereafter.
'FOUGHT' AGAINST RUSSIANS IN UKRAINE
It was also learned that Routh gave an interview to The New York Times (NYT) in 2023. According to the report, Routh went to Ukraine in 2022 and 'fought' for Ukraine for several months.
In his statement to the newspaper, Routh mentions that he was 'helping' to organize Afghans within the Ukrainian army.
News Source: 12punto
