Routh was charged on Monday morning in federal court with two federal counts—possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
He told the court that he has a 25-year-old son, has no assets, besides trucks in Hawaii worth around $1,000, and makes about $3,000 per month.
He is being represented by a public defender and is due back in court on Sept. 23, according to reporters at the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Criticized Trump
On X in 2020, Routh expressed support for Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as well as former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii). In another post, he said that he voted for Trump in 2016, but his opinion of the former president appeared to have soured, based on his posts.At one point in July, after the first assassination attempt targeting the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania, Routh wrote that he believed Trump would not go to the hospital to visit the survivors. He also urged President Joe Biden to visit them instead in the post, one of several he made about the July 13 shooting in Butler.
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.”
In a June 2020 post on X directed at then-President Trump, Routh said that the president would win reelection if he issued an executive order for the Justice Department to prosecute alleged police misconduct in the wake of George Floyd’s death, which sparked widespread riots and protests across the United States.
In another June 2020 post, Routh wrote to Trump’s X account that while he voted for him in 2016, he “hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate.”
Has Voting History, Criminal Record, and FBI Tip
Records show that Routh, 58, lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving in 2018 to Kaaawa, Hawaii, where he and his son operated a company building sheds, according to an archived version of the webpage for the business.Routh registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, recently voting in person during the state’s Democratic Party primary in March, records show.
Federal campaign finance records show Routh made 19 small political donations totaling $140 since 2019 using his Hawaii address to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates and progressive causes.
Over the years, he has had multiple run-ins with law enforcement, including a 2002 conviction in which he was accused of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, court records from the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction show.
On Monday, the FBI special agent in charge, Jeffrey Veltri, told a press conference that Routh was the subject of a 2019 tip to the FBI, which was later closed. No details were provided about the tip, and Veltri said it was referred to local law enforcement.
Had Social Media Presence, Was Avid Ukraine Supporter
Routh left behind an extensive social media history. Profiles associated with Routh on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn were removed by the social media sites hours after the incident on Sunday.Routh, in social media posts and interviews with multiple news outlets, referenced the war in Ukraine, including his apparent efforts to recruit people to fight in the conflict.
All three accounts bearing Routh’s name suggest he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in the ongoing conflict.
He made comments about recruiting Afghan soldiers to fight in Ukraine as well as for those soldiers to be stationed in Taiwan and Haiti, according to an Epoch Times review of his social media account before it was taken down.
“Fight and die to stop aggression,” he wrote on X in February 2023 about Ukraine. “Everyone should be outraged and helping.”
In a video circulating online, Routh said, “This is about good versus evil.”
Video shot by The Associated Press showed Routh at a small demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square in April 2022, two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of the country. He held a placard that said: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.”
Routh wore a blue vest with the U.S. flag on the back.
The book includes multiple references to recruiting Afghan soldiers to fight in Ukraine. One excerpt reads:
Gave Multiple Media Interviews
The New York Times said on Sunday that it had interviewed Routh in 2023 for an article about Americans who were volunteering to help the Ukraine war effort. In that article, he told the paper he'd traveled to Ukraine and spent several months there in 2022 and was trying to recruit Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine.“A lot of the other conflicts are grey but this conflict is definitely black and white. This is about good versus evil,” Routh said in an interview posted by Newsweek Romania in June 2022. His comments suggested he was in Kyiv at the time.
He also had a website through which he sought to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to Kyiv to join the fight against the Russian invasion. Multiple photos that appear to have been taken in recent years showed him in various places in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Other photos showed him with his hair dyed yellow and blue in an apparent reference to Ukraine’s flag colors.
Encountered Secret Service
On Sunday, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told a news conference that a Secret Service agent on Trump’s security detail engaged with the suspect, who fled the scene, and that members of the agency opened fire at him.An SKS-style rifle, a GoPro camera, and two backpacks were discovered near the golf course’s chain link fence, about 400 to 500 yards from Trump as he was golfing.
Arrested by Sheriff on I-95
Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder told reporters on Sunday that a section of Interstate 95 was shut down while officials took Routh into custody, describing police maneuvers used to stop him.In describing Routh, the sheriff said that he appeared calm and asked no questions about why he was being detained during the arrest on I-95.
Routh was seen being arrested and being taken into custody on Sept. 15 in bodycamera footage released by the Martin County Sheriff’s office.
Has a Son Who Spoke to the Media
Routh’s son, Oran Routh, told CNN on Sunday evening that he was “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 said.
The younger Routh also told the Daily Mail that his father doesn’t like Trump. He reiterated that his father isn’t a violent person.
“He’s my dad and all he’s had is a couple traffic tickets, as far as I know,” the son told the tabloid. “That’s crazy. I know my dad and love my dad, but that’s nothing like him.”
