USA. Another Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump. Who is the Suspect Ryan Routh?

On Sunday, near the Palm Beach golf course, owned by Donald Trump, a man was spotted holding an AK-47 rifle with an optical sight. Former president USA He was playing golf and was about 400 yards from the man hiding in the bushes. Secret Service agents fired several shots at the would-be gunman, and the man fled. Martin County officers stopped him a few dozen minutes later on the highway, 40 miles away.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement quoted by CNN that it is “investigating what appears to be an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.”

On Monday, the man was charged with two felonies – possession of a firearm while convicted and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He may face additional charges. He is expected to remain in custody.

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According to the American media, the suspect in the attempt to assassinate Trump is 58-year-old Ryan Routh. Routh comes from North Carolina, where he has lived most of his life, but recently settled in Hawaii. There he runs a small construction company. According to a witness, a neighbor of the 58-year-old, on Sunday evening, Secret Service and Homeland Security agents searched his home in Greensboro, North Carolina.

One of the 58-year-old's sons, named Oran, told CNN that Routh is a “loving and caring father and an honest, hard-working man.” “I don't know what happened in Florida, and I hope it's all just blown out of proportion. From what I've heard, it doesn't sound like the man I know did anything crazy, much less brutal,” he said.

As CNN writes, citing publicly available data, Routh has had problems with the law in the past – in 2002, when stopped by police, he allegedly reached for a gun, drove away and barricaded himself in his company's headquarters. Since the 1990s, he has also been accused of tax evasion.

The station writes that Routh actively comments on global affairs, including on social media. For years, he criticized Trump, although in 2020 he admitted that he voted for him in 2016. The man is the author of a book in which, among other things, he criticized the Republican for withdrawing from the nuclear agreement with Iran.

There have been reports in the media that Routh is an ardent supporter Ukraine and its victories in the war with Russia. He was in Kiev during the war in 2022. Since Sunday's incident, his photos and even fragments of statements in which he declares support for Ukraine have been widely distributed. Reuters writes that the man is visible in photos from a pro-Ukrainian rally in Kiev in May 2022, which he allegedly organized himself. The New York Times confirmed that it spoke with this man in 2023, when he called for the recruitment of former soldiers from Afghanistan to fight on the Ukrainian front. In an interview with “Newsweek Romania” he said that he wanted to go to the front, but he couldn't because of his age and lack of experience.

Ukrainian authorities stressed Monday that they have nothing to do with the man, noting that he was never part of or otherwise affiliated with the International Territorial Defense Legion, an organization for volunteers from other countries. A Legion official told CNN that Routh had been sending them messages offering to recruit volunteers, but that the organization did not take him seriously. “We didn't even respond, there was nothing to respond to. He was never part of the Legion and he did not cooperate with us in any way,” said officer Oleksandr Shaguri.

Ukraine also accuses Russia of using the 58-year-old's views for its own propaganda purposes. The head of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, said that Moscow is “using another assassination attempt on Trump against Ukraine in the field of information”. He added that “the enemy will launch a number of conspiracy theories” about the “Ukrainian trace”. Of course, “all this is a lie”.

Earlier, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke out on the attempted attack and rumors about the perpetrator's ties to Ukraine, saying: “It's not us who should be wondering, it's the US intelligence services who should be wondering. Playing with fire has its consequences.”

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The attempted assassination of Trump comes just two months after another perpetrator in July, he shot a Republican in the ear at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

On Monday, when asked by journalists about Sunday's situation, Joe Biden he emphasized that “thank God (the former – ed.) president nothing happened”. – But I want to make it clear that the Secret Service needs more help. I think Congress should respond to their needs – he added. Asked what kind of help he had in mind – whether financial or in terms of personnel – he replied: “First they can decide if they need more personnel”.

Kamala HarrisTrump's presidential opponent, wrote on X: “I have been made aware of reports of shots fired near the Florida property of former President Donald Trump. I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”