What we know about the man detained after apparent assassination attempt on Trump

Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old owner of a small construction company, has been detained in connection with an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Florida, according to three law enforcement sources.

Here’s what we know about him:

• Trump detractor: A frequent Trump critic on social media, Routh posted on X about the assassination attempt on the former president in July, encouraging President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to visit those wounded at the rally. “Trump will never do anything,” Routh wrote.
• North Carolina ties: Routh was registered as an “unaffiliated” voter in the state in 2012. He also voted in North Carolina’s Democratic primary in March of this year, according to public records.
• Brushes with the law: Routh was arrested in 2002 after being pulled over by police and allegedly putting his hand on a firearm before barricading himself in a business. He was also ordered to pay tens of thousands to plaintiffs in civil suits and has been accused by state and federal authorities of failing to pay his taxes on time.
• Support for Ukraine: Routh expressed support for Ukraine in dozens of X posts in 2022, saying he was willing to die in the fight and that “we need to burn the Kremlin to the ground.” He also visited Ukraine in 2022, according to video and photos geolocated by CNN. In a flurry of Facebook posts last year, he tried to enlist Afghan conscripts to fight in the war, presenting himself as an off-the-books liaison for the Ukrainian government.
• Views on global politics: In a self-published book, Routh weighed in on the political situations in Afghanistan, Taiwan, and North Korea. He further detailed his support for Ukraine, and said he tried to enlist in the war but was turned away at the Poland-Ukraine border.
• Affordable-housing builder: Routh said on his LinkedIn page that he started a company in 2018 called Camp Box Honolulu in Hawaii, which builds storage units and tiny houses. A story in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser said he donated a structure for homeless people.
• Son speaks out: Oran Routh said he hopes everything has “just been blown out of proportion” and it’s not like his father “to do anything crazy, much less violent.” He called his father “a loving and caring father, and honest hardworking man.”