Ryan Wesley Routh has been named as the suspect in the alleged assassination attempt on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (Picture: AP/Reuters)
An associate of the suspect in the alleged assassination attempt on Donald Trump has said he is ‘shocked’ at hearing the news.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was detained after an AK47-style rifle was spotted as the presidential candidate played at Trump National Golf Club in Florida.
Secret Service agents opened fire after seeing a muzzle through fencing around the venue in West Palm Beach.
Routh, a Ukraine activist and former construction worker living in Hawaii, has been identified as the suspect.
An associate of Routh’s, who met him a couple of times in Kyiv last year, told Metro.co.uk: ‘I was shocked to hear the news this morning.
‘He was trying to develop a couple of strategies in Ukraine; one was Defence through supporting the International Legion and the other was attracting investment from other countries.
‘He seemed like a harmless old man and I would never have thought that he could be accused of attempted murder.’
Ryan Wesley Routh speaks during a pro-Ukraine rally in central Kyiv on April 27, 2022 (Picture: AFPTV/AFP)
Routh’s social media channels show he had been approaching celebrities, musicians, politicians and journalists in trying to support Ukraine.
Several pictures have emerged showing him attending rallies in Kyiv in support of the country’s fight against Russian military aggression.
In 2023, he told the New York Times that he had travelled to Ukraine after the full-scale invasion to find military recruits among Afghan soldiers who had escaped the Taliban.
Routh has also tried to build bridges with North Korea, saying on X that he wanted to arrange a US tour for supreme leader Kim Jong Un.
He told one journalist that ‘we can build a friendship between Kim and the American people and end all sanctions and hostilities.’
The entrance of the Trump International Golf Club in Florida where gunshots were reported
(Picture: EPA)
Law enforcement personnel investigate at Trump International Golf Club in Florida (Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty)
The International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine told the BBC that Routh has no association with the unit ‘in any capacity’.
The person, who did not want to be named, said: ‘He was trying to shout about investment in Ukraine and I told him not to make such a big advertisement about it, but I left it to him.
‘He was trying to link people from different worlds, including politicians and at the US Embassy in Ukraine, but this type of situation wasn’t at his level.
‘As to his work in Ukraine now, it is up to the courts to decide if he is innocent or guilty so if he is guilty I presume it will not continue.’
Ryan Routh holds a banner demanding China’s assistance in an extraction of Ukrainian troops from the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works (Picture: Reuters)
A Secret Service agent who was a few holes ahead of …read more
Source:: Metro
