Ryan Routh appears to have felt strongly about Ukraine’s war effort, pictured here talking to the AFP news agency at a rally in Kyiv in April 2022

What is Mr Routh’s connection to Ukraine?
Mr Routh told the New York Times in 2023 that he wanted to assist the war effort in Ukraine, and was seeking to recruit Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban.
In a telephone interview with the paper, he said dozens of soldiers were interested and that he planned to move them from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine, in some cases illegally.
“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he said.
Routh also told the newspaper at the time that he was in Washington to meet with the US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe to help push for more support for Ukraine.
Routh appears to have been engaged in recruitment efforts as recently as July.
One Facebook post from July read in part: “Soldiers, please do not call me. We are still trying to get Ukraine to accept Afghan soldiers and hope to have some answers in the coming months… please have patience.”
Ukraine’s International Legion of foreign volunteers has denied having any links, and other Ukrainian officials have distanced themselves from him. President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned political violence.
“Playing with fire has its consequences,” said Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments quoted by the Reuters news agency.
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Does Mr Routh have a criminal record?
Records show Mr Routh’s legal issues go back to the 1990s, including lesser charges writing bad cheques, according to CBS.
Mr Routh was charged and convicted of numerous felony offences in Guilford County in North Carolina between 2002 and 2010, CBS reported.
In 2002, US media said he was charged for possession of a fully automatic machine gun, which was referred to in court filings as a “weapon on mass destruction”.
In another incident, records show him being charged with misdemeanours including a hit-and-run, resisting arrest, and a concealed weapons violation.
His alleged offences also include driving with a revoked licence, possession of stolen property, and hit-and-run with a motor vehicle.
Former neighbour Kim Mungo, who describes Mr Routh as a “sweetheart”, said federal agents once raided Mr Routh’s property.
She alleged that he used to keep “loads of stolen property and stuff” at his home. And she said she saw Routh and his family firing guns in the open.
What are his political affiliations?
CBS reported Mr Routh voted Democratic and in person during the party’s 2024 primary in North Carolina, according to the state’s Board of Elections.
He is reportedly registered as an unaffiliated voter, despite the social media post saying he had backed Trump in 2016.
Does Mr Routh have any family?
Mr Routh’s son has described him as “a loving and caring father, and honest hardworking man”.
His eldest son, Oran, spoke to CNN via text message, saying: “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.”
What happens next?
Reuters Officials walk near the scene of an attempted assassination of Donald TrumpReuters
Mr Routh remains in custody and no official charges have yet been filed against him. He is expected to appear in front of a judge later on Monday at the Palm Beach County courthouse near Mar-a-Lago.
It is unclear if he actually fired his weapon during the incident.
“We are not sure right now if the individual was able to take a shot at our agents, but for sure our agents were able to engage with the suspect,” said Rafael Barros from the Secret Service Miami Field Office.
He said measures were taken after the previous assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania and “the threat level is high”.
The FBI has announced an investigation, and says it is working with local law enforcement agencies.
Secret Service and Homeland Security agents have also searched Mr Routh’s former home of in Greensboro, North Carolina.