Politics
Ryan Routh, armed man arrested at Trump golf course, posted prolifically about Trump, politics
The man arrested at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday afternoon prolifically posted on social media about world events and politics, and had at least 100 run-ins with police, public records show.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested Sunday after allegedly pushing the muzzle of an AK-47 through the chainlink fence outside of where Trump was golfing. Trump was not injured during the incident, and was safely escorted away from the area, officials and the campaign reported Sunday.
Ryan Routh is accused of aiming an AK-47 at former President Trump while he was golfing at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday. It is being investigated as a second assassination attempt on Trump. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Routh currently resides in Hawaii, after spending the majority of his life in North Carolina, where he worked construction, including owning a company called United Roofing, a background check conducted by Fox Digital shows.
Fox News Digital poured through the suspect’s alleged social media accounts Sunday afternoon, and found he prolifically posted about Trump, the war in Ukraine, the 2020 election and other world events.
DONALD TRUMP SAFE AFTER SHOTS FIRED OUTSIDE PALM BEACH GOLF CLUB
Sheriff vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla., after gunshots were reported in the vicinity of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
“I feel lucky to have been born in America, with freedom and opportunity and hope that I do not waste such a valuable thing; to do more and take less,” Routh’s apparent X account biography declares.
In 2020, during the presidential primary, the X account said: “I was not supporting Bernie, but now I am; as sleepy Joe stands for nothing; no plans, no ideas, just as limp as hillary. Bernie…….give them hell…..fight to the death…”
The account also weighed in on Trump’s assassination attempt in July, calling on Vice President Kamala Harris to visit with those injured at the Pennsylvania Trump rally, because “Trump will never do anything for them.”
LAW ENFORCEMENT SOURCES IDENTIFY RYAN WESLEY ROUTH AS SUSPECT IN TRUMP SHOOTING
“You and Biden should visit the injured people in the hospital from the Trump rally and attend the funeral of the murdered fireman. Trump will never do anything for them….show the world what compassion and humanity is all about,” he said in a reply message to Harris’ account on July 17.
“You should visit the victims in the hospital of the trump rally victims and attend the funeral of the fireman that died; Trump certainly never would. SHOW THE WORLD WHAT REAL LEADERS DO,” he wrote in another X reply to President Biden.
In another X post published on April 22, Routh appeared to quote a commonly used phrase by the Harris campaign, declaring: “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”
“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. We cannot afford to fail. The world is counting on us to show the way,” the account posted ahead of Biden dropping out of the race in July and Harris ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket.
TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: WHISTLEBLOWERS CLAIM THAT THEY WERE ‘WOEFULLY UNPREPARED’ TO PROVIDE SECURITY
Sheriff vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla., after gunshots were reported in the vicinity of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
The X account appearing to belong to Routh also said that Trump was his “choice” in 2016, before completely backtracking during the 2020 election.
“While you were my choice in 2106, I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment and it seems you are getting worse and devolving; are you retar—; I will be glad when you gone,” he posted on June 11, 2020.
The X account appearing to belong to Routh also repeatedly issued messages related to the war in Ukraine, posting to X that he was ready to fly to Ukraine to fight Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I am flying to Ukraine to fight. We need to launch a media campaign to encourage every human around the globe to meet in Ukraine and join in the fight. We need hundreds of thousands of civilians to make the cost of war high for putin and a flood of fighters,” he posted on Feb. 17, 2022.
Following repeated messages declaring his intention to fight on behalf of Ukraine, he posted in April that he was in Kyiv.
“I am here in kyiv and want to use Independence Park to create a tent city of all the foreigners here in support to get thousands more foreign civilians to come and support Ukraine,” the account posted.
TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
The New York Times published an article, “Stolen Valor: The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker,” last year that also quoted a man named Ryan Routh, describing him as a former construction worker from North Carolina who traveled to Ukraine.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall on Thursday, in Tucson, Arizona. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Routh, the outlet reported, was seeking Afghan soldier recruits who fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine. “Mr. Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he planned to move them, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine. He said dozens had expressed interest,” the outlet reported.
“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he told the New York Times in an interview last year.
A background check reviewed by Fox News Digital found that Ryan Wesley Routh from has had repeated run-ins with law enforcement spanning decades in North Carolina.
A majority of the arrests included ones for simple possession, driving without a license, driving with an expired registration, driving without insurance.
VIDEO FROM TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM’S POV SHOWS FIGURE MOVING ON ROOF MOMENTS BEFORE GUNFIRE
In 2002, the Greensboro News & Record reported Ryan Routh was arrested after barricading himself in United Roofing’s office in a three-hour standoff.
Routh had been pulled over by police during a traffic stop, but put his hand on a gun during the stop, sparking him to drive to United Roofing and barricade himself in the building, the outlet reported at the time. He was arrested without incident after the stand-off.
HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA – SEPTEMBER 04: Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a Fox News Town Hall with Sean Hannity at the New Holland Arena on September 04, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Trump and Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris continue to campaign across swing states as polls show a tight race prior to next week’s presidential debate in Philadelphia. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch)
He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a weapon of mass destruction, resisting, delaying and obstructing a law enforcement officer and driving while license revoked. State records show he was sentenced to probation in the case.
Background records show Ryan Routh is divorced, and moved to Hawaii from North Carolina around 2017.
A LinkedIn profile appearing to belong to Routh details that he is now the owner and operator of a construction company called “Camp Box Honolulu,” which is described on the account as a company that builds “simple economical structures to help address the highest homelessness rate in the United States due to unparalleled gentrification.”
“Having passed along any meager remnants of myself in North Carolina and relocated to Oahu, I currently build very simple housing structures for the less fortunate and pursue a wide range of other creative projects towards developing unique products and devices as well as community improvement projects. I am constantly looking for collaborative opportunities which yield the most public impact for the improvement of our society. I would tremendously enjoy the invitation to join any monumental worthy cause to bring about real change in our world. I am certainly free to relocate to any remote location on the planet that might render the most positive impact, or right around the corner creating something unique and magical,” the LinkedIn page stated.
His previous company, United Roofing, earned one star reviews on Yelp, including a review in 2016 that said: “As a military member trying to buy a home before returning from a deployment the proprietor, Ryan Routh, insulted me for trying to buy a house site unseen as many military members do returning from over seas.”
A prominent pro-life group isn’t pleased with ABC News debate moderator Linsey Davis over a fact-check of former President Trump. (Win McNamee)
The arrest Sunday has been described by FBI as “what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
Routh was allegedly armed with an AK-47 and was able to push the muzzle of his gun through the chainlink fence outside the Florida golf club, authorities said. He was located about 300 to 500 yards away from Trump. Secret Service spotted Routh and opened fire, according to authorities.
Routh fled, but was later stopped by authorities and arrested.
Trump assured supporters and the public shortly following the incident that he was safe and well.
“There were gunshots in my vicinity but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!” he posted in a campaign message. “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER.”
An assassination attempt against Trump nearly claimed his life in July during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Trump was left with an injury to his ear when shots rang out at the rally, while a rally-goer was fatally shot and two others injured.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Navy Secretary John Phelan was fired on Wednesday after months of infighting with senior Pentagon leaders and disagreements over how to revive the Navy’s struggling shipbuilding program.
Mr. Phelan is leaving the Pentagon and the Trump administration effective immediately, wrote Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, in a terse statement.
In his role leading the Navy, Mr. Phelan had championed the “Golden Fleet,” a major investment in new ships including a “Trump-class” battleship. But Mr. Phelan’s leadership was marred by feuds with senior leaders in the Pentagon, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, Pentagon and congressional officials said.
Mr. Phelan is the first service secretary to leave the administration, though he is the second one to clash with the defense secretary. Mr. Hegseth also has butted heads with Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll over promotions and a host of other issues. Mr. Hegseth fired the Army’s chief of staff, Gen. Randy George, earlier this month.
The Navy secretary has no role overseeing deployed forces, and Mr. Phelan’s firing is not likely to have significant implications for the conduct of the Iran war or U.S. Navy operations to blockade Iranian ports or open the Strait of Hormuz. As the Navy’s top civilian leader, his main responsibility is to oversee the building of the future naval and Marine Corps force.
But the tumult could make it harder for the Navy to replenish its stock of Tomahawk missiles and high-end air defense systems, which have been in heavy use in Iran.
Tensions had been simmering for months between Mr. Phelan and his two bosses — Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Feinberg — over management style, personnel issues and other matters.
Mr. Feinberg, in particular, had grown increasingly dissatisfied with Mr. Phelan’s handling of the Navy’s major new shipbuilding initiative, and had been siphoning off responsibility for the project from him, said the congressional official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
Mr. Phelan, a White House appointee, also had a contentious relationship with his deputy, Under Secretary Hung Cao, who is more aligned with Mr. Hegseth, especially on some of the social and cultural battles that have defined the defense secretary’s tenure, the officials said.
A senior administration official said that Mr. Hegseth informed Mr. Phelan before the Pentagon’s official announcement that he and President Trump had decided that the Navy needed new leadership.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Phelan referred all questions on Wednesday evening to the Defense Department.
Last fall, Mr. Hegseth fired Mr. Phelan’s chief of staff, Jon Harrison, who had clashed with senior officials throughout the Pentagon. The unusual move highlighted the broader tensions between Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Phelan.
Still, the timing of Mr. Phelan’s firing caught some Pentagon and congressional officials off guard. On Wednesday, Mr. Phelan was making the rounds on Capitol Hill, talking to senators about his upcoming annual hearing with lawmakers to discuss the Navy’s budget request and other priorities.
“Secretary Phelan’s abrupt dismissal is troubling,” Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Wednesday night. “In the midst of President Trump’s war of choice in Iran, at a moment when our naval forces are stretched thin across multiple theaters, this kind of disruption at the top sends the wrong signal to our sailors and Marines, to our allies, and to our adversaries.”
Mr. Phelan also had a close relationship with Mr. Trump. In December, Mr. Phelan appeared alongside Mr. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort to announce the “Golden Fleet” and the new class of battleships bearing Mr. Trump’s name.
“John Phelan is one of the most successful businessmen in the country — in our country,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s been a tremendous success.”
Before joining the Trump administration, Mr. Phelan ran a private investment fund based in Florida.
“He’s taken probably the largest salary cut in history, but he wanted to do it,” Mr. Trump said at the December press conference. “He wants to rebuild our Navy. And you needed that kind of a brain to do it properly.”
But Mr. Trump’s effusive praise masked deeper tensions with Mr. Phelan’s Pentagon bosses.
Bryan Clark, a naval analyst at the Hudson Institute, said that Mr. Phelan was “driving the Navy in a different direction” than what Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Feinberg wanted.
“He was championing initiatives like the battleship and frigate that don’t align with where the D.O.W. leadership is taking the military, which is toward submarines, stealth aircraft, unmanned systems and software-driven capabilities like electronic warfare and cyber,” Mr. Clark said in an email, using the abbreviation for Department of War, as the administration calls the Defense Department.
Mr. Phelan also clashed with Mr. Hegseth over personnel issues in the Navy and Marine Corps, a former senior military official said. Mr. Hegseth has directed service secretaries to scrub the social media accounts of general- and admiral-level promotion candidates to ensure they are not deemed too “woke” by Mr. Hegseth’s standards, the official said.
Maggie Haberman and Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.
Politics
Manhattan DA’s office employee charged with sexual abuse after alleged incident on Queens subway
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
An analyst with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was arrested Tuesday on allegations that he sexually abused a woman while off duty, police told Fox News Digital Wednesday.
Tauhid Dewan, 28, is accused of inappropriately touching a 40-year-old woman’s private area during a late-afternoon rush-hour subway ride in Queens, according to local outlet PIX11.
The victim was reportedly a random woman, the outlet added, citing sources who said she and the suspect were strangers.
A spokeswoman for the office told Fox News Digital that the staffer has since been suspended.
MAN ARRESTED IN NYC STRANGULATION DEATH OF WOMAN FOUND OUTSIDE TIMES SQUARE HOTEL
Tauhid Dewan, 28, was arrested in New York City Tuesday following allegations that the Manhattan DA staffer innapropriately touched a woman during a subway ride (LinkedIn)
According to the New York Police Department, Dewan was arrested around 5 p.m., possibly after returning from work.
PIX11 added that the arrest occurred minutes after the incident, which allegedly took place on a No. 7 train near the Junction Boulevard station.
He was subsequently arrested by the NYPD Transit Bureau and is facing multiple charges, including forcible touching on a bus or train, third-degree sexual abuse, and second-degree harassment involving physical contact.
He was also charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child under the age of 17, suggesting a minor may have been nearby and either witnessed the alleged conduct or was placed at risk by it.
ERIC SWALWELL FACES MANHATTAN SEX ASSAULT PROBE AFTER ENDING CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR CAMPAIGN AMID ALLEGATIONS
Tauhid Dewan is an employee of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which is led by DA Alvin Bragg. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Law enforcement sources said Dewan has no prior arrests, local outlets reported.
According to city records, Dewan has worked at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as a senior investigative analyst for nearly four years, since July 10, 2022.
People board a train at a subway station in New York City on Aug. 1, 2025. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
His arraignment in Queens Criminal Court was scheduled for Wednesday, according to state records.
SAN FRANCISCO — With the California governor’s race quickly approaching, six candidates will face off Wednesday evening in the first debate since former Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race in the aftermath of sexual assault and misconduct allegations.
The debate takes place at a critical moment in the turbulent contest to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom. Ballots will start landing in Californians’ mailboxes in less than two weeks, and voters are split by a crowded field of eight prominent candidates. The debate also takes place after former state Controller Betty Yee ended her campaign because of a lack of resources and support in the polls.
Two Republicans — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton — and four Democrats — billionaire Tom Steyer, former Biden administration Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan — will take the stage at Nexstar’s KRON4 studios in San Francisco. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, both Democrats, were not invited to participate because of their low polling numbers.
As the candidates strive to distinguish themselves in a crowded field, the debate could include fiery exchanges about the role of money in politics and potential heightened attacks on Becerra, who has surged in the polls since Swalwell dropped out. With the debate taking place on Earth Day, environmental issues are also likely to be raised.
The Wednesday night gathering is the first televised debate in the gubernatorial contest since early February. Last month, USC canceled a debate hours before it was set to begin over mounting criticism that its criteria excluded all major candidates of color.
The 7 p.m. debate is hosted by Nexstar and will be moderated by KTXL FOX40 anchor Nikki Laurenzo and KTLA anchor Frank Buckley. It can be viewed on KRON4 (San Francisco), KTLA5 (Los Angeles), KSWB/KUSI (San Diego), KTXL (Sacramento), KGET (Bakersfield) and KSEE (Fresno). NewsNation will also air the debate.
-
Pittsburg, PA2 minutes ago50 Leaders Give Their Rx for Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor, Pt. VII – Pittsburgh Quarterly
-
Augusta, GA8 minutes agoStart your engines: Augusta Tech gets $6.8M grant for new auto institute
-
Washington, D.C14 minutes agoLawton veteran returns from Oklahoma Warriors Honor Flight to Washington
-
Cleveland, OH20 minutes ago’27 DE Munir Lewis Commits to Louisville
-
Austin, TX26 minutes agoCentral Texas aquifers could see slight boost after week of rainfall
-
Alabama32 minutes agoAlabama QB Ty Simpson says faith in Jesus Christ fuels confidence heading into 2026 NFL Draft
-
Alaska38 minutes agoHawaiian and Alaska Airlines officially integrate digital services
-
Arizona44 minutes agoArizona Lottery Powerball, The Pick results for April 22, 2026