The man suspected of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump on his Florida golf course was motivated by concern for Ukraine. Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old Hawaii resident, conducted an interview with Romanian media in 2022 after he traveled to Eastern Europe to help the Ukrainian people and recruit for the nation’s military. Speaking to reporters two years ago, Mr. Routh said the conflict was “black and white” and “good versus evil.”
Intelligence analyst John Miller told journalists that Routh’s social media output indicates the extent of his passionate feelings about Ukraine and his “self-proclaimed involvement” in the conflict. The North Carolina native and self-employed builder has also previously spoken to the New York Times and described his efforts to recruit former Afghan troops, who had fled the Taliban, to reinforce the Ukrainian army.
A Semafor report in 2023 named Routh as the leader of the International Volunteer Center (IVC) in Ukraine. Its website reveals that the IVC is a private organization aimed at “empowering volunteers” to “enhance the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Ukraine.” Some activists said Routh had an “unhealthy” fixation on the conflict and tried to recruit for Ukraine military without any official capacity or authority to do so.
Mr. Routh allegedly traveled to the Trump International Golf Course in Florida on September 15 with an AK-47 rifle, intending to shoot at former President Trump. A Secret Service agent accompanying Mr. Trump saw the rifle peak through a hedge surrounding the golf course and immediately opened fire. Routh was uninjured and fled the scene in a black Nissan SUV.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said officers arrested Routh 45 minutes later as he sped along Interstate 95. The FBI subsequently found the weapon, along with backpacks containing a GoPro camera and rifle accessories, including a scope.
From his social media output, Mr. Routh’s political views appear mixed. According to his Twitter account, he voted for Donald Trump in 2016. Since then, however, his view of Mr. Trump has changed, and he describes the Republican as “getting worse and devolving.” He also wrote that he will be glad when Donald Trump is “gone.”
