Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is suspected in former US President Donald Trump’s second attempted assassination attempt. He waited for the Republican candidate outside a golf course for 12 hours with food and a gun. Routh was waiting for the former president when a Secret Service agent prevented a potential attack and fired fire, according to court records filed Monday.

The defendant, who is now in custody, faces accusations of possessing a handgun despite a past felony conviction and possessing a firearm with an effaced serial number. Never had Trump in line of sight. However, the Secret Service’s acting chief stated that Routh did not fire any bullets and did not have Trump in his sights. Routh, who was seized Sunday

The Secret Service detail assigned to the Republican Presidential candidate spotted the firearm and fired fire. Routh fled the scene shortly thereafter, but was apprehended by law police in a neighbouring nation, according to officials. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office released body camera footage from Routh’s arrest, which showed him walking backwards with his hands over his head on the side of a road before being handcuffed by an officer.

According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) document using mobile phone data, Routh is thought to have assumed position along the golf course’s tree line between 1:59 a.m. and 1:31 p.m. on Sunday. According to the document, officials seized a digital camera, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope, and a plastic bag carrying food from the location where Routh was standing.

Routh’s full background was not released by the police, but his large digital trail indicated that he is a man with changing political views. His social media activity demonstrated his disapproval of Trump and worry about world events, particularly those involving Ukraine.

You’re free to assassinate Trump.” Routh wrote on Iran in an alleged self-published book titled ‘Ukraine’s Unwinnable War’, dated 2023. The suspect called Trump a “fool” and a “buffoon” for both the Capital riots (January 6, 2021) and the “tremendous blunder” of quitting the Iran nuclear agreement. Routh, who voted for Trump once, admitted that he bears some responsibility for the “child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless”. Apparently, the suspect attempted to hire fighters for Ukraine to attack Russia. He even created a website dedicated to raising funds and recruiting people to fight for Kyiv.

In 2012, Routh was registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina, according to voter records. Notably, one of the two allegations against him states that Routh illegally held a gun while having previously been convicted of various felonies, including possession of stolen items. The other claims that the gun’s serial number was obliterated and rendered unreadable to the naked eye, which is a violation of federal law.

Trump’s adversaries, President Joe Biden and November 5 election opponent Kamala Harris, both condemned the assassination attempt, with Harris writing on X, “I am glad he is safe.” “There is no place for violence in America.” Meanwhile, Attorney General Merrick Garland stated in a statement, “We will work tirelessly to ensure accountability, and we will bring every available resource to bear on this investigation.”

The foiled attempt and Routh’s arrest have once again highlighted the former president’s protection. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of Trump’s GOP primary competitors, stated that his state would conduct an impartial probe into how Routh became so close to him. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw presented a briefing, stating that because Trump is no longer in President, security measures surrounding the course have relaxed.

He’s not the current president. If he was, we would have surrounded the entire golf course. But because he isn’t, his security is restricted to the locations that the Secret Service considers safe,” Bradshaw told reporters.

Notably, this incident occurred months after Trump was fired at during an election campaign rally in Pennsylvania. A gunshot brushed the former president’s ear after the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, gained access to an unsecured roof during the protest in Butler.