The gunman who was arrested Sunday after allegedly wielding an AK-47 like rifle in what the FBI characterizes as a second assassination attempt against the life of former President Donald Trump has been identified.
Various media outlets reported the man in custody is Ryan Wesley Routh, of Hawaii, citing unnamed law enforcement sources.
The New York Post reported Routh “is a long-time Democrat, donating exclusively to the party’s candidates 19 times since 2019.”
The donations were small, between $1 and $25, and occurred during the 2020 primary season, the Post reported, citing Federal Election Commission filings. Law enforcement officials have yet to release the name of the suspect.
U.S. Secret Service agents shot at and later arrested a man who was wielding an AK-47 rifle near Trump’s West Palm Beach, Fla., golf club Sunday afternoon while Trump was on the course. The FBI said it is investigating the incident as an attempted assassination of the former president, the second in two months.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference that the Secret Service alerted local authorities that shots were fired about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. A Secret Service agent who was monitoring the course a hole ahead of Trump noticed a man with a rifle pointing the barrel through a chain-link fence near shrubbery that surrounds the course, Bradshaw said. The agent fired on the alleged gunman, who was approximately 300 to 500 yards away from the former president. Trump, the Republican nominee for president, was rushed back to the clubhouse in a golf cart and was unharmed.
A witness told authorities he saw the gunman running from the scene to a car, and was able to get the car’s license plate, Bradshaw said. Agents were able to track the vehicle and arrested the suspect, Bradshaw said.
Authorities found the rifle, a scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera in the bushes where the gunman was hiding.
Sunday’s incident occurred two months after Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Trump was grazed by a bullet in his ear in the Pennsylvania shooting just two days before the start of the Republican National Convention. The suspect in the earlier assassination attempt was shot ad killed at the scene.
