Trump’s accused would-be assassin tried to buy rocket launcher from Ukraine

Ryan Routh tried to make the purchase from someone he believed to be a Ukrainian with access to a haul of military grade weapons, telling him ‘Trump isn’t good for Ukraine,’ prosecutors allege.

Ryan Routh tried to buy a rocket launcher from Ukraine before attempting to kill Donald Trump. Picture: AFP.

Ryan Wesley Routh tried to buy a rocket launcher from Ukraine just weeks before he was arrested for allegedly attempting to gun down President Trump at his Florida golf course, court papers reveal.

The 58-year-old accused would-be assassin tried to make the purchase from someone he believed to be a Ukrainian with access to a haul of military grade weapons, federal prosecutors alleged in a motion filed Monday.

In one exchange, which unfolded via an encrypted messaging app, Routh allegedly asked the associate to “send me an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] or Stinger and I will see what we can do … [Trump] is not good for Ukraine.”

Ukrainian soldiers on standby with a US-made Stinger MANPAD in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Picture; Getty Images.

“I need equipment so that Trump cannot get elected,” he added, according to the filing.

At one point, Routh allegedly acknowledged he couldn’t just go to a store to buy a rocket launcher.

“Going to the local store for such an item is impossible – however you are at war so those items lost and destroyed daily – one missing would not be noticed,” he allegedly wrote.

He later sent the apparent associate a photo of Trump’s plane, writing “he gets on and off daily,” the court papers state.

Prosecutors allege the messages are proof Routh planned to kill Trump.

Routh was arrested after a Secret Service agent spotted the muzzle of his SKS semiautomatic rifle sticking through the shrubbery at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach on Sept. 15, authorities said.

He dropped his rifle and fled in an SUV before he could take a shot — leaving behind the firearm, two backpacks and a GoPro camera, according to court filings.

Routh was stopped and nabbed some 40 minutes later on Interstate 95 in Martin County, Florida.

When the polices searched his car, they found a trove of evidence – including notes about how to join the war on behalf of Ukraine, court docs show.

Routh’s attorneys are currently fighting to have certain evidence, including an eyewitness account, barred from his upcoming trial.

The New York Post