The son of the man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump on Sunday at his Florida golf course says his father volunteered to travel to Ukraine to provide what his son says is “humanitarian” aid to troops defending the country against a 2022 Russian invasion.
A source with direct knowledge of the investigation confirmed to the Guardian that the suspect in Sunday’s incident is Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, but police have not formally released the suspect’s name and there was no immediate suggestion of a motive.
His son, Oran Raus, reiterated that he would not speak on his father’s behalf because he was not immediately able to speak with him or receive information about the allegations against him.
But he also said his father was committed to the Ukrainian cause.
“My dad went over there and saw people fighting and dying,” his brother, Routh, said in a brief phone conversation when asked about his father. “He … tried to make sure things were cool and things weren’t cool.”
“Meanwhile, this guy sits behind a desk and does nothing,” Oran Laus said of the former president, who, during a presidential debate a few days ago, refused to answer whether he wanted Ukraine to win a war with Russia.
A review of Twitter/X posts associated with an account under Ryan Routh’s name also found that Ukraine was a key issue for him. Two posts from the account in August 2023 were directed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. One noted that Routh was in Kyiv and wanted to set up a tent city for foreigners in a local park, hoping it would spur “significant outpouring of aid and equipment” from more people overseas.
Another suggested that Zelenskiy had asked Congress to give all US military personnel paid leave “so they can fight as civilians in Ukraine”.
A third post in December also expressed concern for Haiti, which is plagued by a violent civil war.
Trump mentioned both Ukraine and Haiti during a recent debate with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
On Ukraine, the Republican candidate said only that he wanted Ukraine’s war with Russia to “stop,” but stopped short of saying he wanted Ukraine to win, raising concerns that a second term for Trump could see US military aid to countries defending Ukraine withheld.
When asked what he would say to his father if he could speak to him, Oran Raus replied: “I know things aren’t going well but we need to keep talking.”
He then politely retreated from the conversation, seeking more information about his father’s arrest on Sunday.
In a separate interview with CNN on Sunday, Oran Routh also called Ryan a “loving and caring father” and a “conscientious and hardworking person.”
“I don’t know what happened in Florida, but I hope it’s just been exaggerated because from the little rumors I’ve heard, I don’t think the guy I know would do anything crazy, let alone violent,” he said.
A man with the same name and age as Ryan Rouse is registered to vote in North Carolina as a Democrat, according to online records, which show he last voted in the state’s presidential primary in March.
But many X users pointed out that the account under Routh’s name does not exclusively profess Democratic political views: It has stated that it voted for Trump in 2016 and supports the bid for the White House by Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley, who lost the Republican presidential primary.
The account’s most recent posts were directed at Harris and were made between the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump at a political rally in Pennsylvania and her replacement, Joe Biden, as the top Democratic candidate following the president’s decision to end his reelection campaign. The posts said the vice president and Biden should visit two injured spectators and attend the funeral of a rally attendee who was shot dead before a Secret Service sniper killed the gunman.
“Show the world what compassion and humanity is,” the post read.
The suspect on Sunday reportedly pointed a rifle at a fence in a wooded area at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday afternoon.
Trump was playing golf there at the time. Agents found a rifle and fired a shot, and the suspect fled before being arrested in a neighboring county.
