Greensboro, North Carolina — The guy accused of attempting to murder President Donald Trump on a West Palm Beach golf club had a criminal history in North Carolina.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, formerly of Greensboro, was allegedly on a Trump-owned golf course with an AK-47, a GoPro camera, and other materials hidden in bushes in what officials are calling an assassination plot. The Secret Service fired at the suspect but did not hit him; he fled the scene in a car. He was nabbed during a traffic stop on Interstate 95.
Routh formerly lived in the Greensboro region until relocating to Hawaii earlier this year. Neighbors said he and his family relocated to Hawaii in May.
According to voter records, he was an independent voter who voted in Guilford County’s Democratic primary.
Routh’s purported social media posts show that he believed in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, that he voted for Trump in 2016 but was upset with him afterward, and that he supported Tulsi Gabbard in numerous tweets.
Routh’s records with the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections date back to 2002. That year, he trapped himself inside a Greensboro shop with a gun, according to the News & Record.
In 2003, he received a term for driving without a license, carrying a concealed weapon, and hit and run. He was convicted in 2010 of possessing stolen items.
He received probation for all of these counts, according to the DAC website.
North Carolina’s eCourts system has information for crimes like no operator’s license dating back to 1997.
Law enforcement has not disclosed any additional information about the case.