The man suspected of attempting to assassinate former president Donald Trump was previously brought to the FBI’s attention for allegedly possessing a firearm illegally, an FBI special agent told reporters at a press conference Monday afternoon.
FBI special agent Jeffrey Veltri of the Miami field office revealed that would-be Trump assassin Ryan Wesley Routh was known to the FBI because the bureau received a tip in 2019 for allegedly possessing the firearm as a criminal felon. The FBI passed the tip-off to local law enforcement after the person who filed the complaint was unable to verify it, Veltri said. The FBI is investigating the shooter and obtained search warrants to examine his vehicles and devices.
Routh, 58, was arrested near Trump’s Florida golf club Sunday after a Secret Service agent spotted him in the bushes and opened fire. Once the agent opened fire, Routh attempted to escape, but was arrested and quickly identified. He already has an extensive criminal history and is now facing federal gun charges that could land him in prison for a maximum of 20 years.
On the scene, Routh possessed an SKS-style rifle as well as two backpacks full of ceramic tiles (thought to function as cover from return fire) and had a GoPro camera to record his planned attempt to kill the former president. He was roughly 400 yards away from where Trump was golfing and appears to have spent approximately 12 hours near Trump’s golf course. The Secret Service said Monday that Routh did not fire a shot or have a line of sight on Trump directly.
Since 2019, Routh had donated to Democrats on numerous occasions and recently posted Democratic slogans on his now-deactivated social media pages. Although a motive has not yet been determined, Routh’s son told the Daily Mail that his father hated Trump, but was not a dangerous person. Routh’s neighbors in North Carolina, where he lived for many years, similarly told National Review that they did not consider him to be violent, but he mostly kept to himself.
Staunchly pro-Ukraine, Routh spoke to multiple media outlets about his amateur effort to recruit volunteer soldiers for the Ukrainian cause. In his self-published manifesto, Routh urged Iran to kill Trump and apologized for voting for Trump in 2016, a decision Routh came to regret. Perhaps unbeknownst to Routh, a Pakistani national with ties to Iran recently plotted to kill Trump through hired hitmen and is now being prosecuted for the foiled scheme. The Iranians have also targeted Trump through cyber operations, hacking his presidential campaign and attempting to leak internal documents to media outlets.
Two months ago, would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks fired eight shots at Trump and his supporters during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Crooks’s rampage wounded Trump’s right ear, a moment that instantly became iconic when a bloodied, defiant Trump pumped his fist and urged supporters to “fight!” on. Crooks killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore and wounded two other attendees. A Secret Service sniper gunned him down seconds after he began shooting. The FBI has not been able to establish a motive for Crooks’s attack, despite interviewing roughly 1,000 people and combing through his devices.
The Secret Service is still facing immense scrutiny for the catastrophic law enforcement failures that enabled Crooks to climb onto the roof of a nearby rooftop and carry out his assassination attempt.