By There have now been as many assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump as there have been interviews with Kamala Harris during the presidential campaign.
On Sunday, another Democratic donor tried to sabotage the former president as he golfed at his country club in Florida, hiding in the bushes on one of the holes before being spotted by Secret Service, according to multiple reports.
“U.S. Secret Service agents posted a few holes up from where Trump was playing noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away.
An agent fired and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. The man was later stopped by law enforcement and taken into custody in a neighboring county.”
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder, the alleged shooter, Ryan Routh, remained calm and emotionless when stopped, not questioning why he was pulled over.
“He never asked, ‘what is this about?’ Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on. He never questioned it,” Snyder told The AP.
Trump was not harmed.
Upon initial review from several media outlets, Routh appears to have been a recruiter for the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, attempting to raise soldiers for the fight against Russia, writes Newsweek.
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.
The magazine actually spoke to the would-be assassin in June 2022 while he was in Ukraine, 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.“
Routh appears to have completely bought in to the Democratic rhetoric about Trump. The New York Post reported that he had previously declared on social media that “Democracy is on the ballot” this year, and “we cannot lose” — echoing the anti-Trump rhetoric used by Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden.
“We cannot afford to fail,” Routh continued. “The world is counting on us to show the way.”
The language language is almost identical to the rhetoric Harris continues to deploy on the campaign trail. On August 29, for example, she said at a rally in Savannah, Ga., “We are fighting for our democracy.”
Tom Fitton, president of the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, told The Post: “It is no coincidence that Routh repeated Kamala’s and Joe’s extremist rhetoric against Trump. At this point it is inexcusable incitement.”
In July, Donald Trump received a wound to the head when a would-be assassin fired at him while he gave a speech in Pennsylvania. Last week, a Democratic senator announced that a committee report from the Senate will soon be released about the shooting, and it will “shock” the American public.
[Read More: Kamala Gives Another Embarrassing Interview]
