The man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Trump on Sunday testified publicly to The New York Times last year, touting his efforts to recruit Afghan soldiers for the Ukraine war.
Ryan Routh spoke to The New York Times more than a year ago after spending “many months” in Ukraine during the country's war with Russia. The former North Carolina construction worker told the Times that as the number of foreign volunteers fighting for Ukraine, known as the International Force, dwindles, he is recruiting Afghan soldiers who have fled the Taliban to be sent to the front lines of the Ukrainian war.
“Mr. Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he plans to move them from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine, possibly illegally. Dozens have expressed interest, he said,” The New York Times reported in a Nov. 24, 2010 article. March 25, 2023.
“You could probably buy a passport through Pakistan because Pakistan is a corrupt country,” Routh said in an interview from Washington, DC.
Armed man arrested at Trump golf course, Ryan Routh, frequently posts about Trump and politics
Ryan W. Routh, a suspect in the attempted assassination of former President Trump, stands in handcuffs after being arrested for a traffic violation near Palm City, Florida, on September 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office/Distributed via Reuters)
Routh was arrested Sunday afternoon after he allegedly brought an AK-47-style rifle to Trump International Golf Club and pointed it through a chain-link fence into where Trump was playing golf.
Routh fled the scene in a vehicle and was quickly arrested by authorities on Interstate 95. Trump was not injured in the incident, and his campaign quickly released a statement Sunday afternoon saying the suspect was safe.
Fox News Digital on Sunday reviewed what appeared to be Routh's social media accounts and found that he frequently posts about world events, Trump, the 2020 election and the assassination attempt on Trump in July.
Alleged Trump shooter Ryan Routh has evidence of pro-Ukraine activities: Report
Former President Trump spoke at a campaign event at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall in Tucson, Arizona on Thursday. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
“I am flying to Ukraine to fight. We need to start a media campaign urging all people around the world to come to Ukraine and join the fight. We need hundreds of thousands of civilians to make the cost of war high for Putin and the influx of fighters,” he posted on February 17, 2022.
He posted in April that he was in Kyiv after repeatedly sending messages expressing his willingness to fight for Ukraine.
“I'm in Kyiv and want to use Independence Park to create a tent city for all the foreigners here so that thousands more foreign civilians can come and support Ukraine,” the account posted.
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In another post, he declared in capital letters that he was ready to “fight and die” in Ukraine.
Ryan Routh, the suspect in the attempted assassination of President Trump, was taken into custody on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, according to body camera footage released on Monday. (Martin County Sheriff's Office)
“I am willing to fly to Krakow, go to the Ukrainian border and volunteer to fight and die,” he posted after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
His X account was suspended after police verified his name on Sunday.
New York Times reporter I interviewed Routh last year. A reporter who speaks about the Ukraine operation published an essay about the interview and the story on Sunday. Reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff explained that he had contacted Routh through a former colleague in Kabul, and noted that Routh was one of the first people he interviewed for a story in the March 2023 issue.
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“Routh had been trying to rally support for the war in Ukraine for some time and was looking for recruits among Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban, so the ex-Afghan soldier thought that Routh would be able to send them to the Ukrainian front (after the Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021, even war was preferable for Afghans to the situation in Iran),” the essay explains.
Routh told reporters that he was eager to rally support and volunteers to fight for Ukraine, but chose not to do so because of his age and lack of military experience. Routh will be 58 years old in 2024.
A courtroom sketch shows Routh in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Lothar Speer)
“In my opinion, everyone should be there to cheer on the Ukrainians,” he told reporters.
Last March, Routh told The New York Times that he planned to compile a list of hundreds of names of Afghans living in the Middle East and recruit them to help transport them to Ukraine.
The interview, described as “brief,” came before Rouse said he planned to meet with members of Congress for two hours about Ukraine.
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The reporter wrote in his essay that it was unclear whether Routh actually had the meeting, and that the discussion left Routh feeling like “the situation was getting out of hand.”
“He said he would bribe corrupt officials, forge passports and do whatever it took to get Afghan officials to Ukraine, but he had no realistic way of achieving his goal. At one point he even said he would arrange for a U.S. military flight from Iraq to Poland carrying Afghan refugees willing to fight,” Gibbons-Neff wrote.
Trump International Golf Club, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Lynn Sladky)
“I shook my head. It sounded ridiculous, but the tone of Routh's voice told me otherwise. He was going to support the Ukrainian war effort no matter what.”
The reporter said Routh “disappeared” after last year's publication “until Sunday.”
Routh headed into federal court Monday morning and was seen smiling and laughing before his first appearance.
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He has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and authorities said he could face additional charges.
Trump has since blamed the assassination attempt on Democratic rhetoric promoted by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump also survived an assassination attempt in July when a gunman shot him in the ear at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
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