Bizarre story of new would-be Trump assassin comes to light – National & International News – MON 16Sep2024
Ryan Routh was arrested yesterday after attempting to assassinate former President Trump in Florida. The more we learn about his history, the more questions are raised.
More info comes to light on new would-be Trump assassin
Ryan Routh, who was apprehended yesterday in an apparent attempt to assassinate former President Trump at his Florida golf course, has a colorful history which is quickly coming to light.
He has two prior felony convictions, one for possessing a weapon of mass destruction (in this case a fully automatic machine gun) and one for possession of stolen goods.
Routh is a roofing contractor from North Carolina, but apparently hadn’t had much business in a while. He has a history of bouncing checks, and for a while, he was homeless and sleeping on a beach in Hawaii. Routh told a judge in Florida today that he had “zero funds” in his bank account. Instead of patch roofs, for the last two years, he has devoted himself to his obsession- supporting Ukraine in their fight against Russia.
Despite his apparent lack of funds, he somehow managed to fly all the way from Hawaii to Ukraine in 2022 and spend several months there. Due to his lack of military experience, he was rejected by the International Legion Defense of Ukraine (ILDU), a unit of Ukraine’s Ground Forces which recruits foreign fighters. Routh instead appointed himself the head of the International Volunteer Office.
“Hostile” and “manipulative”
One of his focuses in this self-appointed position was attempting to recruit Afghan soldiers fleeing the Taliban to fight for Ukraine. This doesn’t seem to have panned out, but he continued these efforts after returning to the US. Routh has been interviewed by multiple outlets over the years, including the New York Times, Newsweek, and Semafor, for his efforts in supporting Ukraine. For example, he told the Times last year that he had traveled to Washington DC to meet with members of Congress and the Helsinki Commission, which directs military resources to Ukraine. However, the Helsinki Commission denies ever having met with him. He may have met with some members of Congress, but that has not been confirmed.
It is unclear what if any success Routh had in recruiting fighters, or if he was successful in obtaining any governmental support or funding, either in the US or Ukraine.
Even before the assassination attempt, the ILDU had previously denounced Routh and disavowed any connection with him. A former member of the organization shared text exchanges from Routh with Newsweek. In the messages, Routh would attempt to forward the details of potential Afghan recruits. He then became “hostile” and “manipulative” when his efforts were rejected.
What was Routh’s motivation?
Given Routh’s commitment to Ukraine, one might fairly suppose that Routh was motivated to assassinate Trump due to Trump’s willingness to negotiate a settlement to end the Ukraine-Russia war, even if Ukraine has to cede some territory. However, Routh has shared social media posts supporting both Democratic and Republican candidates for various offices. This includes Vivek Ramaswamy, who, like Trump, has been very openly critical of the US involvement in Ukraine.
On the other hand, a recent post of his on Twitter showed support for the defunct Biden campaign, using Biden’s oft-repeated phrase “democracy is on the ballot”. Routh also tweeted in 2020 that he had voted for Trump in 2016 but had become “disenchanted”.
Aside from statements from an ILDU member who said that Routh was not “firing on all pistons up there”, there are other indications that Routh’s thinking may be somewhat disordered. For example, he tagged Twitter and Space-X owner Elon Musk in a tweet asking to buy a rocket that he could use to target “Putin’s black sea mansion bunker”. One might think this was an attempt at humor, but Routh put his actual phone number and an email address in the public tweet.
We may not get any confirmation from Routh as to his motive for plotting Trump’s assassination. Shortly after his arrest on Sunday, he invoked his right to an attorney before making any statement. Routh has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Other unresolved questions
Pinning down Routh’s motivation is just one of many questions that will be raised in this case.
Regarding Routh himself, how was he able to travel all the way from Hawaii to Ukraine and remain there for months despite having no apparent means of support? How was he able to penetrate, however superficially, official circles supporting Ukraine and win credibility with the press despite his obvious eccentricities? Was his mission to help Ukraine merely some quixotic Hemingway-like fantasy, or was there more to it? At the very least, it seems clear that either Routh was getting financial support from somewhere, or he has more assets and resources than he is letting on. However, it’s doubtful that support was tied to his plan to kill President Trump.
The Secret Service also has a lot to answer for. There have now been two near-miss attempts on President Trump’s life in the last 60 days. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) called these failures “unacceptable” and summoned the new acting head of the Secret Service to testify before Congress. A recent internal investigation by the Secret Service detailed alarming failures ahead of the previous assassination attempt in July in Butler, PA.
Breakdown of yesterday’s events
We are still learning more about what exactly happened yesterday and how the events unfolded. For example, it seems that Routh may have lain in wait for 12 hours at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, FL, before he was spotted by the secret service.
Routh had approached the golf course from the outside, near the fifth hole, which is right next to a public road. President Trump was approaching the fifth hole and the secret service was scouting the area ahead of him. An agent spotted the barrel of a rifle poking out of the bushes and fired at Routh. However, it appears that they did not hit him. Routh took off, leaving behind two backpacks and an AK-47 style rifle, before making a quick getaway in an SUV.
A bystander snapped a picture of Routh’s vehicle as he pulled away from the golf course. The local sheriff’s department quickly uploaded the vehicle’s license plate to automatic license plate readers in the area. Routh was then quickly apprehended by sheriff’s deputies in a neighboring county.
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