‘Willing to die’: Alleged Trump gunman was staunch Ukraine supporter
The alleged gunman was a staunch Ukraine supporter who said he was “willing to die for democracy” and tried to recruit foreign fighters.
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The man suspected of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump has been named as Ryan Wesley Routh.
The FBI today alleged a gunman attempted to assassinate Mr Trump at Trump International Golf Club on Sunday afternoon.
Secret Service agents spotted a gunman’s rifle sticking out of a fence and engaged the suspect, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
Routh allegedly lay in wait about 300 metres away from the Republican candidate for the US presidential election, behind bushes.
After shots were fired, the suspect ran from the bushes and got into a black Nissan.
He has been taken into custody and was “relatively calm” when detained.
“The suspect’s demeanour, I would describe as having a relatively calm, flat, affect,” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said. “He was not displaying a lot of emotions. Never asked what this is about. He was not armed when we took him out of the car.”
The 58-year-old supported former Republican US presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley, and urged them to continue their campaigns, the NY Post reports.
His X account shows he frequently criticised politicians including Mr Trump, current President Joe Biden, and celebrities like Bruno Mars.
He is a staunch supporter of Ukraine and Taiwan.
He wrote on X that he tried to “sell” the idea of having former Afghan soldiers fight for Ukraine in Russia, but was denied multiple times before giving up after six months.
Routh, formerly a construction worker from Greensboro, North Carolina, spent several months in Ukraine in 2022.
“I am willing to go and die for democracy and the kids of Ukraine,” he wrote on X in February 2022.
Since his arrest, Routh’s Facebook and X pages have been deleted or suspended.
Speaking to The New York Times last year, Routh said he had planned to move the Afghans, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran into Ukraine.
“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he told the newspaper.
In an interview with Newsweek Romania while in Ukraine, Routh begged people to “come fight”.
“We need everyone here fighting... that’s why I’m in Kyiv so every project that I promote is about getting people here to support the Ukrainians,” he said.
He was previously convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, a reference to a fully automatic machine gun, after a three-hour standoff with police in Greensboro.
Routh was pulled over in a traffic stop but put his hand on a firearm and drove to a roofing business where he barricaded himself inside, according to a 2002 News & Record article.
He describes himself on his profile as “mechanically minded” and enjoying “ideas and invention and creative projects with artistic flair”.
He is the owner of Box Camp Honolulu, a shed building company.
Routh was allegedly armed with an AK-47 style rifle with a scope, had two backpacks and a GoPro.
He was reportedly “intent on filming” the attempted assassination.
Mr Trump was playing golf at the time of the incident and was rushed to safety by Secret Service agents.
He was between the fifth and sixth hole on the golf course when the incident took place.
It’s the second attempt on Mr Trump’s life after Thomas Crooks attempted to kill the former President at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
Originally published as ‘Willing to die’: Alleged Trump gunman was staunch Ukraine supporter
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