GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — The man accused of trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a West Palm Beach golf course has a criminal record in North Carolina.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was allegedly on the Trump-owned golf course with a rifle, a GoPro camera and other items, concealed in bushes in what officials are calling an assassination attempt. The Secret Service fired but did not hit him, and he fled the scene in a car. He was arrested in a traffic stop on I-95.
Routh previously lived in the Greensboro area before moving to Hawaii sometime this year. Neighbors say he and his family moved in May.
Voter records indicate that he was an unaffiliated voter but did vote in the Democratic primary in Guilford County.
Social media posts allegedly belonging to Routh indicate he was a believer in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, and he had posted that he had voted for Trump in 2016 but was disappointed with him after the fact, expressing support for Tulsi Gabbard in various posts.
Greensboro neighbor describes Routh
A woman who lived next door to Routh in Greensboro spoke to Nexstar’s WGHP on the condition of anonymity. She said she has known Routh for nearly two decades.
The neighbor described Routh as unusual, but she said she would have never thought he would be involved in something like this.
“Him, I mean, trying to shoot Trump. That’s a lot. I would have never guessed, and I would have swore up and down, no, that’s not him,” she said. “… I just can’t believe it. I mean, if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I mean the pictures and stuff and all, then I wouldn’t be able to believe that.”
The neighbor said she wasn’t surprised to hear about guns being involved. She claims to have seen guns in Routh’s home over the years.
“I’ve seen the guns myself and all, and, yeah, they had a lot of guns and stuff over there, and, yeah, a lot of people were afraid of him back in the day,” she said.
She said she last spoke to him in May, just before he moved to Hawaii. She remembers that at the time, everything seemed normal.
“He told me it was the last day he was here and he hugged me goodbye, and, yeah, he actually hugged me,” she said.
The neighbor says that Routh gave her a shirt from Hawaii as a gift on that last day and hired her son to help with his move.
“I thought he was just living the life in Hawaii with the girlfriend and all, so for him to be assassinating the president, that’s just crazy,” she said.
Criminal record in North Carolina
The North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections has records for Routh going back to 2002. That year, he barricaded himself inside a business with a gun in Greensboro, per the News & Record.
In 2003, he was sentenced for driving without a license, carrying a concealed weapon and hit and run. In 2010 he was convicted of possessing stolen goods.
He was given probation for all of these charges, according to the DAC website.
North Carolina’s eCourts system has records going back to 1997 for charges such as no operator’s license.
Law enforcement has not released any more information on the case.
