Would-Be Trump Assassin Travelled To Ukraine In 2022, Was Profiled By NYT

Would-be Trump assassin Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, claimed that he travelled to Ukraine to support the war effort in 2022 in an interview with the New York Times.

Routh’s social media profiles are littered with pro-Ukraine content. He frequently claimed that he was raising money to recruit U.S. soldiers to fight in Ukraine, as well as defense for other nations such as Taiwan and South Korea. He frequently stated that he was working to recruit former Afghan soldiers for fighting in Ukraine as well.

In a 2023 article from the New York Times, the outlet noted that Routh is a former construction worker from North Carolina who currently resides in Hawaii, matching details from his social media profiles.

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“Ryan Routh, a former construction worker from Greensboro, N.C., is seeking recruits from among Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban. 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 New York Times reported.

“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” Routh told the outlet. The report noted that it was unclear whether he had succeeded in recruiting foreign troops, though one former Afghan soldier confirmed that he was contacted and expressed interest in fighting if he could leave Iran, where he was living illegally.

Routh was attempting to recruit soldiers to fight in Ukraine and traveled to the war-torn country in 2022. He was profiled by the New York Times and Newsweek

A Semafor report published from March, 2023 named Routh as the head of the International Volunteer Center (IVC) in Ukraine, a private organization that works to “empower volunteers” and other non-profit groups that work to “enhance the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Ukraine,” according to the IVC’s website.

The would-be assassin also detailed his commitment to the Ukrainian war effort in a 2022 interview with Newsweek, Romania. Routh explained that he was working to recruit fighters for the International Legion Defense of Ukraine, a unit of Ukraine’s Ground Forces.

“The question as far as why I’m here — To me, a lot of the other conflicts are grey, but this conflict is definitely black and white,” Routh said. “This is about good versus evil. This is a storybook, you know, any movie we’ve ever watched, this is definitely evil against good.”

Routh also appears to have appeared in a propaganda for the Above Battalion, a radical Ukrainian militia with Nazi ties.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Routh was convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction. A December 20o2 report from News & Record in Greensboro, North Carolina, reported that a man with the same name was arrested after a three-hour standoff with law enforcement.

Routh was reportedly arrested for being in possession of a fully automatic rifle.

Ryan Wesley Routh’s sniper’s nest. Images were provided by Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw

Routh was arrested in Martin County, Florida, located just north of West Palm Beach, shortly after 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday. He was unarmed at the time of his arrest and was described as having a “calm” demeanor by Martin County Sheriff Will Snyder.

Investigators recovered an AR-style rifle fitted with a scope from the scene. It is believed that Routh aimed his weapon through a hole in the fence around the edges of the course.

He was spotted by a Secret Service advance team positioned ahead of the president on the gold course. At that point, at least one agent opened fire, forcing Routh to flee. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that the would-be assassin was located roughly 300 yards from the former president.

Investigators also recovered two backpacks from the scene, as well as a GoPro camera aimed at his would-be target zone.

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