The suspected gunman who was arrested on Sunday for the second attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump has a record of felony convictions and used an AK-style rifle with a serial number that was at least partially scratched, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, had at least 100 run-ins with the police resulting in more than one felony conviction, which makes it illegal for him to have a firearm, the Journal reported. The obscuration of the gun’s serial number makes it difficult to quickly determine how Routh obtained the weapon.
As Trump golfed at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida, multiple shots were fired "in his vicinity." Routh, who is not believed to have gotten a shot off, stuck his rifle barrel through a fence before he was spotted by a Secret Service agent, who fired at him. Law enforcement officials found an "AK-47 style rifle with a scope," a GoPro, and two backpacks left behind where he was positioned.
Routh made his first appearance in a federal court in Florida on Monday morning. He is being charged with the possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and the possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Routh is a vocal Trump opponent, having regularly expressed anti-Trump sentiments, the New York Post reported. Routh posted on social media that "Democracy is on the ballot" in November and "we cannot lose," echoing rhetoric from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He has also exclusively donated to Democrats.