Important Takeaways:
- Ryan Routh, a 58-year-old man living in Hawaii, has been identified as the would-be assassin who targeted former President Donald J. Trump as he played a round of golf on Sunday at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspect, currently in the custody of law enforcement, had an extensive social media presence almost entirely focused on support for the Ukrainian war effort and opposition to Israel.
- The would-be assassin appears to have been deeply involved with efforts to send Afghanistan military veterans, who fled the country after the Taliban retook power, to Ukraine to bolster the Eastern European nation’s efforts to halt the Russian invasion.
- According to his social media and two 2023 interviews with Semafor and The New York Times, Routh ran the International Volunteer Center in Ukraine and spent a great deal of time in Kiev over the past several years.
- “Most of the Ukrainian authorities do not want these soldiers,” Routh told Semafor last year. “I have had partners meeting with [Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense] every week and still have not been able to get them to agree to issue one single visa.”
- FOREIGN TIES.
- Even more concerning with respect to Routh’s foreign ties are the comments he made to the NYT. “We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he said regarding plans to move Afghan soldiers to Ukraine to join their fight. Routh insinuated he’d move the soldiers to Iran and, from there, fly them to Ukraine.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Former President Donald Trump is “safe and unharmed” after Secret Service agents engaged with a suspect pointing a high-powered rifle at the Florida golf course where Trump was golfing Sunday afternoon, officials said. The suspect fled but was later taken into custody.
- The FBI and U.S. Secret Service are investigating the incident, which the FBI said “appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
- “President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” Steven Cheung, Trump campaign communications director, said in a brief initial statement.
- Law enforcement officials confirmed that members of Trump’s U.S. Secret Service detail opened fire at the armed suspect after spotting him on the edge of the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, a few holes ahead of where the president was golfing. Secret Service officials said it was not clear if the suspect fired any shots.
- Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in a briefing that Trump was about 300-500 yards away from the man with the gun.
- Officials say rifle, scope, GoPro camera recovered
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Routh, who has so far refused to talk to police following his arrest on Sunday, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He faces additional charges related to the alleged assassination attempt.
- Routh, according to news reports, appeared in court with shackled hands. He smiled and laughed as he talked to his attorney, according to Fox News producers who were inside the courtroom.
Read the original article by clicking here.
