Ryan Wesley Routh speaking about the Russia-Ukraine War in 2022
CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller reported Sunday afternoon that Routh's social media accounts have focused on his "self-proclaimed involvement" in the war in Ukraine, including his supposed effort to recruit soldiers to fight in the conflict. Routh also claimed to have fought in Ukraine as it continues to hold off Russia's invasion.
Miller said that Routh has been living in Hawaii and was formerly a construction worker in North Carolina. The suspect has also reportedly been previously arrested eight times, mostly for minor offenses.
Routh appears to have
previously spoken with
The New York Times about his effort to recruit Afghan soldiers who fled the
Taliban to fight in Ukraine. At the time of the report, which was published on March 25, 2023, Routh told the
Times that he had spent several months in Ukraine in 2022.
A Semafor
report published on March 10, 2023, cited Routh as the head of the International Volunteer Center (IVC) in Ukraine, a private organization that works to "empower volunteers" and other non-profit groups that work to "enhance the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Ukraine," according to the IVC's website.
In
a June 2022 interview with Newsweek Romania, Routh spoke about his efforts to recruit volunteers for the International Legion Defense of Ukraine, a unit of Ukraine's Ground Forces.
"The question as far as why I'm here -- To me, a lot of the other conflicts are grey, but this conflict is definitely black and white," Routh said. "This is about good versus evil. This is a storybook, you know, any movie we've ever watched, this is definitely evil against good.
"
The
Associated Press previously reported that Routh was convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, per online North Carolina Department of Adult Correction records but could not provide details about the case.
A December 2002 story by
News & Record in Greensboro, North Carolina, said that a man with the same name was arrested after a three-hour standoff with police.
Routh was reportedly charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a weapon of mass destruction, "referring to a fully automatic machine gun."
A suspect, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is in custody after an apparent assassination attempt against President Donald Trump at his Florida golf club
www.newsweek.com