KAAAWA, Hawaii: Ryan Wesley Routh portrayed himself online as a man who built housing for homeless people in Hawaii, tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, and described his support and then disdain for Donald Trump — even urging Iran to kill him.
“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran in an apparently self-published book in 2023, “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,” which described the former president as a “fool” and “buffoon” for both the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the “tremendous blunder” of leaving the Iran nuclear deal.
Routh wrote that he once voted for Trump and must take part of the blame for the “child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless.”
Routh, 58, was arrested Sunday and charged Monday after authorities say he stalked the GOP presidential nominee as he golfed in West Palm Beach, Florida, with an AK-47-style rifle in an apparent assassination attempt thwarted by the Secret Service.
Through his voluminous online footprint, public records, news interviews and videos, a picture emerged of Routh as a man with a criminal past, plenty of outrage and views ranging from the left to the right, including support for Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard, Nikki Haley and Trump.
Voter records show he registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, most recently voting in person during the state’s Democratic primary in March.
Routh also made 19 small donations totaling $140 since 2019 through ActBlue, a political action committee that distributes donations to Democratic candidates, according to federal campaign finance records.
In a tweet in June 2020, after the police killing of George Floyd, Routh said then-President Trump could win reelection by issuing an executive order to prosecute police misconduct. However, in recent years, his posts appear to have soured on Trump, and he expressed support for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
“DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose,” he wrote on X in April in support of Biden.
In July, following the assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, a post on Routh’s account urged Biden and Harris to visit those wounded in the shooting and attend the funeral of the firefighter who was killed.
“Trump will never do anything for them,” Routh wrote.
In his book, listed on Amazon and viewed by the AP, Routh noted: “I get so tired of people asking me if I am a Democrat or Republican as I refuse to be put in a category.”
The world would be better if it were run by women, he wrote in the book that has links to his website and X account, because “it seems that the totality of the world’s problems revolve around men with massive insecurity and childlike intelligence and behavior.”
He posted frequently on social media about Ukraine and other conflicts, and had a website seeking to raise money and recruit volunteers to fight for Kyiv. A photo of the wiry, wild-haired Routh on his site shows him smiling, wearing a T-shirt and jacket adorned with US flags.
“This is about good versus evil,” Routh said in a video circulating online. And in a tweet, he said, “I am going to fight and die for Ukraine.”
Video shot by the AP showed Routh at a small demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square in April 2022, two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of the country.
A placard he was holding said: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.”
That same day, he also visited a makeshift memorial to “Foreigners killed by Putin.”
But Routh never served in the Ukrainian army or worked with its military, said Oleksandr Shahuri of the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command.
Shahuri told AP that Routh periodically contacted the International Legion of Ukraine with what he described as “nonsensical ideas” that “can best be described as delusional.”
Routh appeared in a video standing in front of the US Capitol and expressing frustration that Ukraine wasn’t taking more of the Afghan commandos he tried to recruit.
“They’re afraid that anybody and everybody is a Russian spy,” he told news website Semafor in 2023.
Earlier this year, he even tweeted at singers Bruno Mars and Dave Matthews to organize a “We are the World”-style effort for Kyiv. “We need an emotional tribute song for Ukraine as support stalls,” he wrote. “I have lyrics and music.”
Routh also tweeted to former basketball star Dennis Rodman, asking for help lifting sanctions against North Korea to ease tension with the country. In another, he invites a dozen protesters in Hong Kong to stay at his Hawaii home to escape a Chinese crackdown.
Routh lived most of his life in Greensboro, North Carolina, where his run-ins with law enforcement included a 2002 felony conviction for possessing explosives, detonation cord and a blasting cap, according to court records.
The News & Record of Greensboro reported that the arrest came after Routh fled from a traffic stop and held off police for three hours with “a fully automatic machine gun” at a roofing business. State records listed him as the business owner.
Court records show authorities seized the explosives and an undefined number of firearms from Routh. As part of a plea deal, Routh agreed to undergo a mental health evaluation and comply with any treatment recommendations. The documents provided to the AP by the county clerk of court on Monday do not include the results of that evaluation.
Records also show Routh was convicted of a felony count of possession of stolen goods in 2010, as well as misdemeanors including illegally carrying a concealed weapon, a hit-and-run, speeding and driving with a revoked license.
Court records from the 2010 felony case say detectives determined Routh was storing stolen building supplies and other items at his roofing business warehouse, where he was living at the time. Money from the sale of the stolen goods was used to purchase crack cocaine, according to a police affidavit used to get a search warrant.
In both the felony cases, court records show judges sentenced Routh to either probation or a suspended sentence, allowing him to escape prison time.
It was not immediately clear how Routh was able to obtain a weapon. In most states, it is generally forbidden for a person convicted of a felony to purchase or possess a firearm.
In 2018, Routh moved to the small town of Kaaawa, Hawaii, about 45 minutes outside Honolulu, to go in business with his adult son building small wooden sheds. According to his LinkedIn page, the structures would “help address the highest homelessness rate in the United States due to unparalleled gentrification.”
“All of us are tired of seeing the homeless people all over the island with nowhere to go,” he told Honolulu’s Star-Advertiser in 2019.
No one answered the door Sunday at his blue stucco house near the beach that is colorfully painted with wooden cutouts of fish. A white pickup truck with a Biden-Harris bumper sticker and a flat tire was in the driveway.
Neighbor Christopher Tam said Routh kept to himself and was respectful, cordial and kind.
“It’s just been very surprising,” Tam said. “If he did have anything to do with it, it’s very shocking to us.”
Man who appeared intent on killing Trump wrote a book urging Iran to assassinate the ex-president
https://arab.news/ysmgc
Man who appeared intent on killing Trump wrote a book urging Iran to assassinate the ex-president
Australia to toughen gun laws as it mourns deadly Bondi attack
- Footage showed one man, identified by local media as fruit seller Ahmed al Ahmed, grabbing one of the gunmen as he fired
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a meeting of leaders of Australia’s states and territories in response on Monday, agreeing with them “to strengthen gun laws across the nation”
SYDNEY: Australia’s leaders have agreed to toughen gun laws after attackers killed 15 people at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach, the worst mass shooting in decades decried as antisemitic “terrorism” by authorities.
Dozens fled in panic as a father and son fired into crowds packing the Sydney beach for the start of Hanukkah on Sunday evening.
A 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor and a local rabbi were among those killed, while 42 others were rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds and other injuries.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a meeting of leaders of Australia’s states and territories in response on Monday, agreeing with them “to strengthen gun laws across the nation.”
Albanese’s office said they agreed to explore ways to improve background checks for firearm owners, bar non-nationals from obtaining gun licenses and limit the types of weapons that are legal.
Mass shootings have been rare in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 people in the town of Port Arthur in 1996, which led to sweeping reforms long seen as a gold standard worldwide.
Those included a gun buyback scheme, a national firearms register and a crackdown on ownership of semi-automatic weapons.
But Sunday’s shooting has raised fresh questions about how the two suspects — who public broadcaster ABC reported had possible links to the Daesh group — obtained the guns.
- ‘An act of pure evil’ -
Police are still unraveling what drove Sunday’s attack, although authorities have said it targeted Jews.
Albanese called it “an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores.”
A string of antisemitic attacks has spread fear among Australia’s Jewish communities after the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
The Australian government this year accused Iran of orchestrating a recent wave of antisemitic attacks and expelled Tehran’s ambassador nearly four months ago.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia’s government of “pouring oil on the fire of antisemitism” in the months before the shooting, referring to Canberra’s announcement that it would recognize Palestinian statehood in August.
Other world leaders expressed revulsion, with US President Donald Trump condemning the “antisemitic attack.”
The gunmen opened fire on an annual celebration that drew more than 1,000 people to the beach to mark Hanukkah.
They took aim from a raised boardwalk at a beach packed with swimmers cooling off on the steamy summer evening.
Witness Beatrice was celebrating her birthday and had just blown out the candles when the shooting started.
“We thought it was fireworks,” she told AFP. “We’re just feeling lucky we’re all safe.”
Carrying long-barrelled guns, they peppered the beach with bullets for 10 minutes before police shot and killed the 50-year-old father.
The 24-year-old son was arrested and remains under guard in hospital with serious injuries.
Australian media named the suspects as Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram.
Tony Burke, the home affairs minister, said the father arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1998 and had become a permanent resident. The son was an Australia-born citizen.
Hours after the shooting, police found a homemade bomb in a car parked close to the beach, saying the “improvised explosive device” had likely been planted by the pair.
Rabbi Mendel Kastel said his brother-in-law was among the dead.
“We need to hold strong. This is not the Australia that we know. This is not the Australia that we want.”
Wary of reprisals, police have so far avoided questions about the attackers’ religion or ideological motivations.
Misinformation spread quickly online after the attacks, some of it targeting immigrants and the Muslim community.
Police said they responded to reports on Monday of several pig heads left at a Muslim cemetery in southwestern Sydney.
- Panic and bravery -
A brave few dashed toward the beach as the shooting unfolded, wading through fleeing crowds to rescue children, treat the injured and confront the gunmen.
Footage showed one man, identified by local media as fruit seller Ahmed al Ahmed, grabbing one of the gunmen as he fired.
The 43-year-old wrestled the gun out of the attacker’s hands, before pointing the weapon at him as he backed away.
A team of off-duty lifeguards sprinted across the sand to drag children to safety.
“The team ran out under fire to try and clear children from the playground while the gunmen were firing,” said Steven Pearce from Surf Life Saving New South Wales.
Bleeding victims were carried across the beach atop surfboards turned into makeshift stretchers.
On Monday evening, a flower memorial next to Bondi Beach swelled in size as mourners gathered.
Hundreds, including members of the Jewish community, sang songs, clapped and held each other.
Leading a ceremony to light a menorah candle, a rabbi told the crowd: “The only strength we have is if we bring light into the world.”
