Ryan Wesley Routh has been named by US media as a suspect in the alleged attempted assassination of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Florida.

Mr. Routh, 58, is originally from North Carolina and has spent most of his life there, according to property records, but has recently lived in Hawaii.

His known activities paint a mixed picture of his politics, and he appears to have strong opinions on Ukraine’s war effort. He has also had a number of legal problems.

Here are some other things we know about him.

He is suspected of having gone to Trump International Golf Course in Florida on Sunday armed with an AK-47-style rifle. The FBI found the weapon and its scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera in the bushes where the suspect was hiding.

Although Routh managed to escape in his car, it appears he was spotted by a witness who took a photo of the black Nissan he was driving.

An emergency alert was issued for the car. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said two deputies picked up and followed Mr. Routh’s vehicle 45 minutes after the gun was spotted on the golf course.

He was eventually pulled over and arrested on Interstate 95.

BBC Verify found social media profiles matching Mr Routh’s name, indicating that he has called for foreign fighters to go to Ukraine to fight against Russian forces.

“I am coming to Ukraine from Hawaii to fight for your children, families and democracy. I will come and die for you,” reads a message on X, according to the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.

There are also pro-Palestinian, pro-Taiwanese and anti-Chinese posts on his profile, including accusations of Chinese “biological warfare” and references to the Covid-19 virus as an “attack”.

CBS reported that Mr. Routh at one point endorsed President Trump. In a post on X, he wrote that the Republican was “my choice in 2016” but that he was “getting worse and worse and worse,” and he continued: “I’ll be glad when you’re (gone).”

Mr Routh can also be seen online urging President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris to meet with victims of a shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, as a new attempt was made on Trump in July.

Mr. Routh told The New York Times in 2023 that he wanted to support the war effort in Ukraine and recruit Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban.

In a telephone interview with the newspaper, he said dozens of soldiers were interested and that he planned to transfer them from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine, in some cases illegally.

“We can probably buy some passports through Pakistan as it is such a corrupt country,” he said.

Routh also told the newspaper at the time that he was in Washington to meet with the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and help push for more support for Ukraine.

Routh appears to have been engaged in recruiting activities as recently as July.

A July Facebook post read, in part: “Soldiers, please do not call me. We are still trying to get Ukraine to accept Afghan soldiers and hope to get some answers in the coming months… please be patient.”

The International Legion of Foreign Volunteers of Ukraine has denied any ties, and other Ukrainian officials have distanced themselves from him. President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned political violence.

“Playing with fire has consequences,” Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in comments cited by Reuters news agency.

According to CBS, Mr. Routh’s legal troubles date back to the 1990s and include less serious charges such as writing false checks.

Mr. Routh was charged and convicted of numerous crimes in Guilford County, North Carolina, between 2002 and 2010, CBS reported.

In 2002, he was charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction. In another incident, documents show he was charged with misdemeanors including a hit-and-run, resisting arrest and a weapons offense.

The offences he is alleged to have committed include driving with a revoked license, possession of stolen goods and driving away after a collision.

According to his former neighbor Kim Mungo, who describes Routh as a “sweetheart,” federal agents once raided Routh’s property.

She claimed he had “a lot of stolen stuff and things” in his home. And she said she saw Routh and his family shooting guns in public.

CBS reported that Routh voted in person and Democratic in North Carolina’s 2024 primary, according to the state’s Board of Elections.

He is reportedly registered as an independent voter, despite saying in a social media post that he supported Trump in 2016.

Mr Routh’s son described him as “a loving and caring father and an honest, hard-working man”.

His eldest son, Oran, spoke to CNN via text message, saying, “I don’t know what happened in Florida and I hope things are just taken out of context because from what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem like the man I know would do anything crazy, let alone violent.”

Mr. Routh remains in custody and no formal charges have been filed against him. He is expected to appear in court later Monday at the Palm Beach County Courthouse near Mar-a-Lago.

It is unclear whether he actually fired his weapon during the incident.

“We are not certain at this time if the male was able to fire at our officers, but we do know that our officers were able to make contact with the suspect,” said Rafael Barros of the Secret Service Miami Field Office.

He said action had been taken following the previous assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania and that “the threat level is high.”

The FBI has announced an investigation and says it is working with local law enforcement agencies.

Agents from the Secret Service and Homeland Security also searched Mr. Routh’s former home in Greensboro, North Carolina.