What we know about Ryan Routh, the man charged after an apparent assassination attempt on Trump

The man who authorities say appeared to be the target of an assassination attempt on Donald Trump was a vocal supporter of the former president before becoming completely disillusioned with him. Here's what was revealed Monday about the suspect and the apparently foiled attack.

When and where did it happen?

Trump was golfing near his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida shortly before 2 p.m. on Sunday when a Secret Service agent saw a rifle with a scope in the bushes outside the course, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.

Officials said Secret Service agents shot the man, but he did not return fire and then fled in a black Nissan.

“The suspect, who did not have the former president in sight, fled the scene,” acting Director of National Intelligence Ronald Rowe told reporters late Monday afternoon. “He did not fire any shots at our agency or fire any shots.”

A Martin County Sheriff's Traffic Unit stopped and arrested 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh without incident on Interstate 95, authorities said.

What kind of weapons were they?

An AK-47 rifle was found at the scene near a fence adjacent to the golf course, Bradshaw said. Two backpacks and a GoPro camera were also found nearby.

He was charged with two federal crimes: possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obscured serial number.

What had he done on Sunday?

Cellphone records show that Routh was near Trump's golf course for about 12 hours before a secret agent confronted him and shot him, officials said Monday.

He was armed and had food with him, officials said.

What was his involvement in Ukraine?

Routh has been very outspoken about his support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion, saying he traveled to the Eastern European country to see the combat zone.

However, the extent of his activities for Kyiv was unclear.

In an interview with Newsweek Romania in 2022, Routh said he volunteered to fight for the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine but was rejected because of his age and lack of combat experience.

Instead, Routh claimed, he chose to help with the military's recruitment efforts in Kiev. An International Legion representative told NBC News on Monday that Routh never served in the combat troops.

Did he support or oppose Trump?

Routh said in 2020 that he had supported candidate Trump in the past, but expressed disappointment with Trump's presidency.

On June 10 of that year, he tweeted to Trump: “Although you were my choice in 2016, I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we were all very disappointed and it seems you are getting worse and regressing… I will be glad when you are gone.”

He appeared to fully support then-Democrat Tulsi Gabbard and her bid for the 2020 presidential nomination, which was ultimately won by Joe Biden.

He later became angry at Gabbard for what he believed was her siding with Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, writing on X in 2022: “Why don't you go join Putin and Trump and become their fifth wheel?”

There was no immediate evidence in Routh's social media posts that he was ever a supporter of Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.

He endorsed Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the 2020 presidential election and derided “sleepy Joe” who “stands for nothing; no plans, no ideas, just as slack as Hillary,” he wrote on March 4, 2020.

Does he have a criminal past?

According to records, Routh has faced more than 100 charges in North Carolina. In 2002, he was convicted of possessing a weapon of mass destruction – a machine gun – according to court records.

In this case it was a man named Ryan Routh, then 36, is said to have led authorities on a chase before hiding out at a roofing company in Greensboro, according to a report in the Greensboro News & Record.

What did he do for a living?

According to his LinkedIn page, Routh had run a company called Camp Box Honolulu, which built storage units and tiny homes.

He was quoted in a 2019 Honolulu Star-Advertiser article about how to give structure to the homeless.

“If we could come together as a community and pool our resources, it would be extremely useful,” he told the newspaper. “We are all tired of seeing homeless people all over the island with nowhere to go.”