Suspect in apparent assassination attempt of Trump has long history of legal troubles

by Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee - 09/16/24 2:03 PM ET

The suspect in an apparent attempted assassination of former President Trump has long had run-ins with the law, court records show, a history that could be a factor as he stares down federal charges.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged Monday with two gun crimes after allegedly pushing the muzzle of a rifle through the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida while he was there, prompting a Secret Service agent to fire.

Court records in North Carolina and Hawaii reviewed by The Hill paint a picture of how Routh regularly encountered law enforcement for decades, leading to dozens of criminal charges that were oftentimes for traffic violations and cutting bad checks.

Violent convictions are also peppered across Routh’s criminal record. Federal prosecutors are latching on to that history, signaling they believe it triggers a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence if Routh is convicted on the most serious of his two new gun charges.

Perhaps most prominently, Routh was convicted in North Carolina of possessing a weapon of mass destruction in 2002, court records show.

The News & Record reported at the time that Routh had barricaded himself inside his roofing business with a machine gun after being pulled over at a traffic stop. Routh was also convicted of resisting an officer, carrying a concealed weapon and driving with a revoked license.

He was sentenced to probation. Tracy Fulk, the charging officer in the case, told WIRED after the Trump incident that she was unaware Routh was continuing his “escapades.”

“I figured he was either dead or in prison by now,” Fulk said.

Routh has never spent time in jail, according to state corrections records.

Routh appeared in federal court Monday in West Palm Beach, where the charges were unveiled and he was ordered into detention until at least next week. He’s accused of possessing a firearm despite being a convicted felon and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Normally, the first charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison. But if prosecutors can show that Routh has three prior violent felony or serious drug convictions, federal law would mandate a 15-year minimum.

In their criminal complaint Monday, federal prosecutors noted both Routh’s 2002 conviction and that he was convicted in 2010 on multiple felony counts of possessing stolen goods.

Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office said during a press conference later Monday that Routh was the subject of a 2019 tip alleging he was a felon in possession of a firearm – the charge he now faces five years later.

But when the FBI interviewed the tipster, that person did not verify providing the initial information. As a result, the FBI passed the information to local law enforcement in Honolulu, Veltri said.

Routh’s arraignment was scheduled for Sept. 30.

The Hill has reached out to Routh’s public defender for comment.

Routh’s criminal scrutiny goes beyond those cases, however. Though some of his charges were ultimately dismissed, he has been convicted of misdemeanors that include driving with a revoked license and carrying a concealed weapon.

Routh eventually moved to Hawaii, according to his LinkedIn, where court records reveal that he continued to have run-ins with law enforcement.

In October 2020, he received an infraction for driving with a mobile electronic device and was charged with driving without a valid license and having no car insurance. Prosecutors later dropped the two charges, and Routh paid $297 for the infraction.

Authorities later accused Routh of being delinquent on his vehicle tax and not having a current safety check in January 2022. The charges were brought a second time a year later. Routh was found guilty, by default, on all of them, and hundreds of dollars in fines have been sent to a collection agency, court records show.

Beyond the criminal cases, the suspected gunman has also been involved in many civil lawsuits that largely appear to involve his work running a roofing business. Court records show various contract and small claims disputes, though further details remain unclear.

The records show various run-ins with state and federal tax authorities over the years. In 2008, for example, the Internal Revenue Service placed a lien as it sought to collect nearly $32,000 from Routh.

But Routh’s run-ins with law enforcement didn’t always land him in hot water.

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A News & Record article from 1991 described the then-25-year-old as a “super citizen if not a super hero” after he was awarded a “Law Enforcement Oscar” by a local chapter of a national police union for helping track down a suspected rapist.

“I hope that everybody else would have done the same thing in the same situation,” Routh said at the time. “When these types of incidents happen, most of what you do is just impulse. You’re just reacting. I was happy to be at the right place at the right time.”

Updated at 5:12 p.m.