Who is Ryan Routh?
Ryan Wesley Routh, the man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump on Sunday, professed to be a recruiter for a group of foreign soldiers helping Ukraine fight off Russian invaders—a claim that has led some to suspect that Routh might be a Ukrainian agent, or a CIA or NATO tool, hired to kill Trump for political purposes.
However, those who really did fight in Ukraine with the group—known as the International Legion—say Routh was not associated with them, recruited nobody to the cause, and did little during his time in Ukraine aside from garner publicity for himself.
The legion was set up and run by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. “Vetting was very elaborate,” [Malcolm] Nance [a retired Navy officer who served in the legion's 1st and 3rd battalions as a tactical intelligence specialist] told [Slate writer Fred Kaplan]. “You had to enter through Poland, go through a tent on the Ukrainian side, wait for a van to come take you to a special site. You needed to have military experience; initially, you needed to have combat experience. You were taken to a basic-training battalion at a training facility. All this applied to everyone who came through. Anyone who came from outside of that chain was not allowed to join.” The process was tight, he said, “because there was a lot of concern about Russian infiltration.”
Routh went through none of these processes.
In June of this year, the International Legion put out a statement “warning about Ryan Routh: he is not, and never has been, associated with the International Legion or the Ukrainian Armed Forces at all. He is not, & never has been, a legion recruiter. He is misrepresenting himself and lying to many people.” The legion issued a similar statement on Sunday.
The Azov Brigade, a former militia that is now part of Ukraine’s National Guard, also issued a statement after social media posted a clip from a video showing Routh at an Azov rally. Routh “has no connection to Azov and has never had any connection,” the statement said. The rally “was open … anyone could join it.” Routh was “caught on the video … by accident.”
There has been speculation on X about how Routh could have known that Trump would be playing golf Sunday afternoon; some suspect that he must have received inside intelligence information. This is beyond ridiculous. It is no secret when Trump is at Mar-a-Lago. It is also well known that when he is staying there, he plays golf nearly every day.
Routh’s motives are not yet known. His politics were clearly variable—at various points, he supported the presidential candidacies of Trump and Tulsi Gabbard. There are several fake social media accounts linked to Routh circulating that try to paint his views as plainly Democratic. (One of the fake accounts featured this Instagram bio: “Proud to be LGBTQ+ member. Proud Dem. Don’t follow if youre a maga.”) In fact, Routh voted for Trump in 2016 but, back in January, supported a GOP ticket of Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy.
However, those who really did fight in Ukraine with the group—known as the International Legion—say Routh was not associated with them, recruited nobody to the cause, and did little during his time in Ukraine aside from garner publicity for himself.
The legion was set up and run by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. “Vetting was very elaborate,” [Malcolm] Nance [a retired Navy officer who served in the legion's 1st and 3rd battalions as a tactical intelligence specialist] told [Slate writer Fred Kaplan]. “You had to enter through Poland, go through a tent on the Ukrainian side, wait for a van to come take you to a special site. You needed to have military experience; initially, you needed to have combat experience. You were taken to a basic-training battalion at a training facility. All this applied to everyone who came through. Anyone who came from outside of that chain was not allowed to join.” The process was tight, he said, “because there was a lot of concern about Russian infiltration.”
Routh went through none of these processes.
In June of this year, the International Legion put out a statement “warning about Ryan Routh: he is not, and never has been, associated with the International Legion or the Ukrainian Armed Forces at all. He is not, & never has been, a legion recruiter. He is misrepresenting himself and lying to many people.” The legion issued a similar statement on Sunday.
The Azov Brigade, a former militia that is now part of Ukraine’s National Guard, also issued a statement after social media posted a clip from a video showing Routh at an Azov rally. Routh “has no connection to Azov and has never had any connection,” the statement said. The rally “was open … anyone could join it.” Routh was “caught on the video … by accident.”
There has been speculation on X about how Routh could have known that Trump would be playing golf Sunday afternoon; some suspect that he must have received inside intelligence information. This is beyond ridiculous. It is no secret when Trump is at Mar-a-Lago. It is also well known that when he is staying there, he plays golf nearly every day.
Routh’s motives are not yet known. His politics were clearly variable—at various points, he supported the presidential candidacies of Trump and Tulsi Gabbard. There are several fake social media accounts linked to Routh circulating that try to paint his views as plainly Democratic. (One of the fake accounts featured this Instagram bio: “Proud to be LGBTQ+ member. Proud Dem. Don’t follow if youre a maga.”) In fact, Routh voted for Trump in 2016 but, back in January, supported a GOP ticket of Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/09/second-assassination-attempt-trump-shooting-ryan-routh-ukraine-snowden-alex-jones-trump-harris.html
