Who is Ryan Wesley Routh, man arrested for Donald Trump's assassination attempt
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was the subject of an apparent assassination attempt at his Florida golf club on Sunday, said the FBI.
Trump sent an email to supporters saying there were "gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumours start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!".
The apparent attempt on Trump's life came just two months after he was shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, sustaining a minor injury to his right ear.
CNN, Fox News and The New York Times identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, citing unnamed law enforcement officials.
As per his profiles on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn for a Ryan Routh who appeared to be the man identified as the suspect by those news organisations.
The three accounts bearing Routh's name suggest he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia. In several of the posts, he appeared to be trying to help recruit soldiers for Ukraine's war effort.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Secret Service agents saw a rifle barrel poking out from bushes about 400 to 500 yards (365 to 460 meters) away from Trump as they cleared holes of potential threats ahead of his play.
The agents engaged the gunman, firing at least four rounds of ammunition around 1:30 p.m. (1730 GMT).
The gunman then dropped his rifle, and left behind two backpacks and other items, and fled in a black Nissan car. The sheriff said a witness saw the gunman and managed to take photos of his car and license plate before he escaped.
After the suspect fled the scene, police sent out an alert to statewide agencies with the information on his vehicle, which led to sheriff’s deputies in neighboring Martin County apprehending the suspect on I-95 about 40 miles (65km) from the golf course.
Earlier this year, Routh tagged Biden in a post on X: "@POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF.
Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA ...make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose."
with inputs from agencies
