Ryan Wesley Routh: Suspect identified after ‘assassination attempt’ on former president Donald Trump

The identity of a man in custody after allegedly attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at his Florida golf course has been revealed.

US news outlets have identified the man arrested by Martin County officials after fleeing the scene was Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii.

Officials from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department, the FBI and Secret Service confirmed the attack is believed to have been an assassination attempt.

“The shooter poked his gun through a fence and engaged in fire with the Secret Service advance team,” Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters.

“The Secret Service fired on the shooter who then ran out of the bushes and jumped into a waiting car,” Sheriff Bradshaw said.

“The Secret Service then found an AK47 with a scope, two backpacks hanging on the fence with ceramic tile in them, and a Go-Pro to film the event.”

It is understood a witness who took a picture of the suspect’s vehicle and license plate number provided it to law enforcement officers.

Mr Routh’s son Oran has released a statement saying he hopes the situation has been “blown out of proportion”.

Oran Routh said his father is a “great man”.

In a statement to CNN he said: “Ryan is my father, and I don’t have any comment beyond a character profile of him as a loving and caring father, and honest, hardworking man.

“I don’t know what’s happened in Florida, and I hope things have just been blown out of proportion, because from the little I’ve heard, it doesn’t sound like the man I know to do anything crazy, much less violent.

“He’s a good father, and a great man, and I hope you can portray him in an honest light.”

Ryan Routh was a construction worker in North Carolina and before his arrest he was very active on social media, posting about his staunch support for Ukraine and Taiwan.

He had been critical of political figures includinng Donald Trump and Joe biden. He had claimed Trump’s MAGA acronym stood for — “Make America Slaves Again”.

He reportedly spent a number of months in Ukraine in 2022 and had promoted an idea of recruiting former Afghan soldiers to fight for Ukraine in Russia.

His social media accounts appear to have now been suspended.