Man in custody after Trump golf club incident was once convicted of possessing a machine gun

The man in custody in connection with what is being described as a second attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump was vocal about U.S. support for Ukraine and has a long criminal and civil court history, including a conviction for possessing a machine gun.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was taken into custody after Secret Service agents fired shots at him at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, three senior law enforcement sources said. In 2002, court records show, he was convicted of possessing a weapon of mass destruction — a machine gun.

Follow live updates here

In that case, a man named Ryan Routh, 36 at the time, allegedly led authorities on a vehicle chase before he holed up at a roofing company in Greensboro, North Carolina, according to an account by the Greensboro News & Record.

A person named Ryan Routh resided for decades in North Carolina, property records show. Most recently, a Ryan Routh lived in the small coastal community of Kaaawa on Oahu’s eastern shore in Hawaii. Authorities there did not immediately respond to an inquiry about any possible contacts with Routh.

After the 2002 arrest, authorities said they found the suspect in possession of a fully automatic machine gun, according to the Greensboro News & Record. The arrest coincides with North Carolina criminal court records that include Routh’s conviction for possession of a weapon of mass destruction.

Records also show convictions for carrying a concealed weapon, possession of stolen property and hit-and-run. In those cases, which included misdemeanor convictions for violations such as resisting an officer and driving on a suspended license, the defendant received a suspended sentence and parole or probation.

There is no record of time spent in state prison related to those cases in the early 2000s.

Court records show more than 100 criminal counts have been filed against Ryan Routh in North Carolina, most in Guilford County, which underlies Greensboro. The exact outcome of each case was not immediately clear.

The court records for a person named Ryan Routh also show a 2003 divorce, as well as multiple civil judgments after contractors and individuals sued a roofing company he helped run.

Routh told the publication Semafor last year that he was director of a group he called International Volunteer Center as part of his attempts to support Ukraine’s war against Russia.

Routh spoke of his frustration with Ukraine over what he said were roadblocks to admitting foreign fighters, including Afghan commandos, who either volunteered or were available to join Ukraine’s war effort.

“Ukraine is very often hard to work with,” he told Semafor. “They’re afraid that anybody and everybody is a Russian spy.”

In an interview with Newsweek in 2022, Routh said he was 56 at the time and that he was from North Carolina and had flown to Ukraine from Hawaii. He complained about U.S. leadership as it related to Ukraine and urged greater support for the country from the U.S. government.

“This conflict is definitely black and white,” he said. “This is about good versus evil.”

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, after Trump’s term in the White House. Trump has promoted a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election and has refused to say whether he wants Ukraine to win its war against Russia. He has also expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

There was no immediate indication that Trump’s stance on Ukraine motivated Routh’s alleged actions Sunday.

Routh had previously criticized Trump on social media after saying he supported his first run for president.

Writing on X, then called Twitter, in June 2020, he said: “@realDonaldTrump While you were my choice in 2106 [sic], I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment and it seems you are getting worse and devolving; are you retarded; I will be glad when you gone [sic].”

Routh also used X to signal his support for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and referred to President Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe.”

In one post also in 2020, he said: “Bernie…. give them hell….. fight to the death.”

Routh’s X account is now suspended.

It also appears Routh, while he was living in Hawaii, made several small contributions to the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, including 19 payments in 2019 and 2020 in amounts from $1 to $25, according to Federal Election Commission records. ActBlue did not immediately respond Sunday night to an emailed request for comment about the donations.

On Sunday, Palm Beach County State’s Attorney Dave Aronberg told MSNBC that the federal government is taking over prosecution in the West Palm Beach case, with the U.S. Justice Department expected to file any charges.

He argued that a defendant would not have to open fire for the case to include a charge of attempted assassination.

Aronberg said it was his understanding that Routh was “lying in wait” for Trump before Secret Service agents spotted him. Routh had aimed at the agent who fired at him, Aronberg said; the exact chronology of what took place is still unclear.

Routh was “pretty quiet” and “pretty compliant” after a Martin County sheriff’s traffic unit took him into custody on Interstate 95 one county to the north of Palm Beach, Aronberg said.