The suspect in an apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump is a staunch supporter of Ukraine who was rejected by the country’s armed forces and failed to make much of a contribution to the war effort.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, who appeared in court on Monday, is from North Carolina and spent most of his life there, but most recently lived in Hawaii.
He voted for Trump in 2016 but later turned against him, and made statements of support and contributions to other politicians.
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Here are some of the other things we know about him.
What did Routh do?
He is suspected of going to the Trump International Golf Course in Florida on Sunday, armed with an SKS-style rifle. The FBI recovered the weapon and scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera from an area heavy with bush cover.
Law enforcement allege that Routh fled the area when a Secret Service agent fired in his direction after spotting a rifle barrel poking out of the bushes.
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He is not believed to have fired his own weapon during the incident, and is not believed to have had a clear line of sight to Trump at any point.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said two officers spotted Routh’s vehicle, a black Nissan, and followed it for 45 minutes.
Routh was stopped on Interstate 95, a major highway, and arrested.
He has been initially charged with federal firearms offences. The affidavit states that Routh’s phone was in the “vicinity” of the covered area for 12 hours.
The car, a Nissan SUV, was later determined to have number plates which belonged to a 2012 Ford which had been reported as stolen.
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What does Routh’s social media show?
BBC Verify found a number of social media profiles matching Routh’s name.
Routh repeatedly touted his work in encouraging foreign fighters to go to Ukraine to battle against Russia.
However, most of his organising appears to have happened while he was in the US, not in Ukraine, where in 2022 he was rejected by the country’s International Legion due to his lack of combat experience.
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The FBI is still investigating his links to Ukraine and has sent out multiple requests to companies for returns on his phone and social media accounts.
There are also pro-Palestinian, pro-Taiwan and anti-China messages on his profile, including allegations about Chinese “biological warfare” and references to the Covid-19 virus as an “attack”.
On an X post from 2020, Routh suggested he voted for Trump in 2016 but became disillusioned, writing: “I will be glad when you [are] gone.”
Routh also posted online urging President Joe Biden and Vice-President Harris to meet victims of the attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
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What are his political affiliations?
Routh was registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina, but appears to have voted in the most recent Democratic primary in March, according to state records.
In 2019 and 2020, he gave a number of small donations totalling around $140 (£106) to ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising organisation, according to online federal elections records.
An Associated Press photo of a truck outside Routh’s Hawaii home displayed a Biden-Harris campaign sticker on the back.
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In the past Routh also backed candidates such as Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat who has since left the party and swung behind Trump, and also declared his support for former Republican presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley.
What was Routh doing in Ukraine?
Routh described himself as a “volunteer co-ordinator” and his ambitions to join combat were not realised.
The International Legion told the BBC that Routh had “never been part of, associated with, or linked” with the legion … in any capacity”.
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A volunteer for the legion described Routh to the BBC as a chaotic presence who kept trying to “sneak around” officials and was “doing more harm than good”.
The volunteer said that Routh was in Ukraine in April 2022.
“He was not part of any unit and his activities were essentially causing chaos,” the volunteer said.
“He was also trying to pose as some sort of official entity for all volunteers, which, again, he was not,” she said.
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Routh told The New York Times in 2023 that he wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban.
One Facebook post from July of this year read: “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.”
In a book self-published in February 2023, Routh grumbled about how his efforts were received in Ukraine. “I have yet to see… the smallest amount of appreciation or respect,” he wrote.
In the book, Routh said he spent five months in Ukraine and worked on various projects including a drone-building programme. He claims his efforts ended in failure or were shut down by the authorities.
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The book also contains a passage where he encourages Iranian officials, that they were “free to assassinate Trump”.
Does Routh have a criminal record?
Records show Routh’s legal issues go back to the 1990s, including a variety of felonies and misdemeanours, including numerous charges for stolen goods.
He was charged and convicted of numerous felony offences in Guilford County in North Carolina between 2002 and 2010, according to online records.
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In 2002, he was charged for possession of a fully automatic machine gun, which was referred to in court filings as a “weapon of mass destruction”.
A local newspaper report from the time noted that he barricaded himself in a business and had a three-hour stand-off with police officers in the town of Greensboro before being taken into custody.
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 and possession of stolen property.
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In 2019, the FBI also received a tip that Mr Routh was a felon in possession of a firearm. The unverified tip was passed on to local law enforcement in Honolulu.
Former neighbour Kim Mungo describes Routh as a “sweetheart” and said federal agents once raided Routh’s property.
She alleged that he used to keep “loads of stolen property and stuff” at his home, and said she saw Routh and his family firing guns in the open.
Does Routh have any family?
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Routh’s eldest son, Oran, described his father as “a loving and caring father, and honest hardworking man”.
He told CNN: “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.”
Friends and family members are being sought for interviews by the FBI, including in North Carolina and Hawaii.
What happens next?
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Bodycam footage shows arrest of suspected Trump gunman
Routh appeared in front of a judge on Monday at the Palm Beach County court near Mar-a-Lago, charged with firearms offences.
The charges against him did not include any references to trying to kill Trump, though the FBI has said it is investigating Sunday’s incident as an assassination attempt.
Law enforcement stated after the court appearance that the suspect did not fire a weapon and did not have a line of sight on Trump.
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Secret Service and Homeland Security agents have searched Routh’s former home in Greensboro, North Carolina.
A hearing is scheduled for next Monday to determine whether he should remain in custody. Prosecutors say he is a flight risk and a danger to the community.
Last week JPMorgan made headlines by announcing it planned to cap its junior bankers’ working week to 80 hours (“High pressure, long days, crushing workloads: why is investment banking like this?”, FT Alphaville, FT.com, September 13).
The media and most western professionals and other workers will see that figure as extraordinarily high — but the small print makes clear that the cap will not apply when junior bankers are working on “live” deals.
The 80-hour working week, it seems, is the routine baseline expectation.
Former investment banker Craig Coben, author of the FT Alphaville piece, outlined the history and factors that make the long-hours culture a seemingly intractable fact of life across the investment banking industry — and other related sectors such as Big Law.
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As investment banking is a bespoke service the work cannot fit into a standard nine-to-five schedule. The question is: does this bespoke service require regular “all-nighters”?
Is this really the most efficient approach? Research shows that working long hours does not improve productivity. Studies document diminishing returns after a certain threshold — typically around 50 hours per week.
Coben also pointed to the mega-salaries junior bankers earn. In the end, there is no such thing as a free lunch in life.
They know what they are getting themselves into. The reality may not be as glamorous as it seems. Assuming an entry salary of £90,000, as indicated in the article, an 80-hour working week for 47 weeks a year — admittedly a very basic calculation — junior bankers would earn a higher hourly rate by doing private tutoring!
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Yes, this is partly down to the nature of the business but it is also a self-perpetuating culture that is blocking efforts to at least mitigate its worst excesses.
Addressing this could, in fact, positively impact productivity as well.
Sonia Falconieri Professor in Corporate Finance, Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), London EC1, UK
“We asked for a thorough investigation,” says Olivia.
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“That’s definitely what they’ve done as it’s been a while now.
“I hope the FA do the right thing.
“It’s important we don’t skim over what happened.”
Regardless of the outcome, the 25-year-old says there’s no way things can stay the same in women’s football.
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“I’d like to think that after what’s happened to my sister, there’s no way there can’t be any change.
“Maddy ultimately lost her life and her spirit to football and it’s important that nobody else goes through that.”
Maddy’s family has launched a foundation in her name to support women and girls in football and hopes to be a voice for them too.
“You can’t bury your head in the sand,” says Olivia.
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“You need to stand up for these girls and stand up for Maddy ultimately as well.
“We just really wanted to find what was missing and give these girls a voice.”
They recently hit a £50,000 milestone, something Olivia says she “never even dreamed of”.
“It made me really proud,” she says.
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“I thought, we could really change the game here and change young girls’ lives.”
‘I’m going to be like Maddy’
Some of the money raised goes towards supporting girls like eight-year-old Neveah, who idolised Maddy.
Neveah’s mum, Beth, tells Newsbeat the love started when she was assigned the same number football shirt.
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“She’d see Maddy play and say, ‘Mum that’s me – I’m number eight, I’m going to be like Maddy’.”
Last year, Neveah was a mascot for Sheffield United and chose to walk out with Maddy, which Beth says helped to “grow her love of football”.
When Maddy died, Beth says Neveah “took it really hard” and, in December, the foundation offered to pay for her to have new boots – something the family had done for Maddy every Christmas.
Since then it has also sponsored her kit.
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“She was very touched by that,” Beth says.
“We always get in touch with the family because she likes to tell them how many goals she’s scored for Maddy.”
Although Neveah is sometimes the only girl on the pitch, she is generally supported and encouraged in the sport, says Beth.
But she knows that might not always be the case, and that is why the work of the foundation is so important.
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“[Girls] need to know that support is available for them,” she says.
“I just hope Neveah’s journey through football, however long it is, continues to be positive.”
Olivia says her sister was “loved and adored and an inspiration to so many”.
“My main focus with the foundation is to carry that on for as long as I can and to bring her to life for as long as I can as well.”
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There will be a vigil for Maddy later and she will also be remembered at a match between Sheffield United and Derby County – the club Maddy supported – on Saturday.
“She would’ve been there for sure,” Olivia says of her big sister. “With a beaming smile.”
A spokesperson for Sheffield United told Newsbeat they were pleased to mark the anniversary with the match.
“The thoughts of everyone associated with Sheffield United Football Club remain with the Cusack family, as well as Maddy’s friends, colleagues and team-mates,” they added.
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The FA said it would not be appropriate to comment while it was still investigating.
If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this article, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.
No publication has bettered the FT for the coverage of Boeing’s downward and tragic flight path resulting from putting financial engineering (sic) before real engineering. Rereading John Gapper’s piece about the revival of Rolls-Royce’s fortunes (Opinion, September 13) I was surprised to see no words of caution about the possible consequences of too much “squeezing” of a product that must work perfectly throughout its life, and no warning on the potential for a Boeing outcome.
For me, I am always reassured when I look out from a window seat to see the classic black and silver RR logo on the engine housing. Long may this continue.
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