Accused assassin was MAGA

SANDUSKY — A man arrested for allegedly aiming an AK-47 rifle while former President Donald Trump was at his golf course on Sunday was in Ukraine in 2022 and 2023 carrying a MAGA flag, according to Terry Burton. Ryan Routh, 58, is shown in this photo published by the Daily Mail. Burton said Routh is posed at Independence Square in Kiev, with a tank defense structure behind him. Daily Mail Burton was in Ukraine as a volunteer with the Ukrainian military from 2022 to 2024 and was a correspondent for the Register. "He was super MAGA," said Burton, of Sandusky. "The first time I met him, he was wearing an American flag shirt and also pants, almost like the old MC Hammer pants, that looked like an American flag." Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested about 45 miles north of the West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course, according to the Washington Post, after fleeing when Secret Service agents began to fire on him after seeing him outside the golf course's perimeter aiming the rifle toward the course. Trump was unharmed, and the Secret Service said Monday afternoon that Routh never fired his weapon or had a line of sight on the former president, according to the Associated Press. Routh was not a well man, according to Burton, who said he first met him in 2022. "He had bad teeth and was a small guy with a lot of nervous energy. He couldn't sit still and was always looking around, anxious and nervous," Burton said. "If you saw this guy in the parking lot, you wouldn't let your wife walk to her car by herself." The Ukrainian officials tried to get him to leave the country, but he was an American, so they were being a little deferential with him, the source said. "We told him to stop carrying around the American flag, that he was putting us in danger," Burton said. Some national media companies — including the New York Post, USA Today and others — are reporting that Routh made donations to Democrats and was a supporter of President Joe Biden. "His over 500 posts on X showed his views ranging from the left to the right, including support for politicians such as Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard and Nicki Haley as well as Trump," the Associated Press reported. The AP additionally reported that, in his self-published book, Routh noted: "I get so tired of people asking me if I am a Democrat or Republican as I refuse to be put in a category." Routh wrote in his book that he had voted for Trump once, the AP reported, adding that Routh also wrote that Iran was "free to assassinate Trump." But, when Burton encountered Routh, he was "super MAGA." "I only know how he was acting when I saw him for those few weeks in Ukraine," Burton said. "He could've been acting other ways at other times." Routh, at times, was incoherent. But, at other times, he claimed he could bring 100,000 Afghan fighters and Syrian ISIS fighters to Ukraine that he could lead. "He was reported to the military by me and by others," Burton told the Register. "He was saying he could bring them to Ukraine to fight Russians, but I don't think the military took him seriously." Routh, 58, more recently has been living in Hawaii, the Post reported. The Post article also states he spent years trying to join the war in Ukraine, according to online posts and law enforcement officials, and Routh has a criminal history including barricading himself inside a building with a machine gun in 2002, according to public records and news reports. Recalling Routh Burton was scheduled to talk with the FBI. After learning that Routh had been arrested late Sunday, he wrote notes about what he recalled about Routh after meeting him that he intends to give to the FBI. Here are the notes: I met Ryan Routh in March 2022. I had just returned from the battle of Ivankiv and was staying in an unnamed building near Independence Square. Ryan was staying on the fourth floor of a building facing the Globus, above a McDonald's. There was a journalist from Taiwan named Danial I befriended staying in the same place. Ryan introduced himself and was very pro-American, to the point of discomfort. He would tell anyone who would listen how the U.S.A. was the greatest country on Earth and how every other nation owed us for their very existence. He made fast enemies of everyone he came in contact with. He was from Georgia or Tennessee and moved to Hawaii and started a storage business he said he sold to come to Ukraine to offer support. He seemed rudderless in finding a way to help. He was always talking about how great Donald Trump was and how he was so disappointed that Joe Biden was elected president. He talked about World War II and how Europe owed the U.S. He was for Trump withdrawing us from NATO. He said Trump will be the savior of Europe... again just like Roosevelt was. He said Jan. 6 was a necessary revolution and he wished he was there. He and I had a very heated argument as he would wear an American flag or a MAGA flag as a cape as well as having signs made purporting friendship between the U.S. and Ukraine. I was angry as he was bringing attention to the area as there were bounties on the heads of American volunteers by the Russians. He would wander around the area doing weird things like scream chanting 'USA, USA!' He had a very short temper and was quick to intimidation and becoming physical. He had three fist fights that I know of within a two-week timeframe. He told me he wanted me to get him into the International Legion of Territorial Defense or GUR. He said he had no military experience and had never fired a weapon. He was not who we were looking for. He approached me several times talking about he has contacts in Syria and Afghanistan and wanted me to put him in contact with some people in the Interior Ministry in order to bring these "Isis" soldiers to fight the Russians. He talked about how they were NATO-trained and very fanatical. He said they would fight for free just for citizenship. He ran this idea to everyone who would listen. I know he told these stories to several members of GUR and they worked to have him deported. I met him again in 2023 at the makeshift memorial for fallen soldiers in Kyiv while I was placing flags for several Americans killed in combat. He recognized me and again started asking me to get him in contact with the Interior Minister to get these guys here. He said they were loyal to him and he could lead the division. He was talking about how ISIS would make the best fighters as they hate the Russians and have been fighting them in Syria and Afghanistan for generations. I know he gave several news interviews about this and was on the Interior Ministry watch list. As an American the Ukrainians were deferential to him and were reluctant to make him leave involuntarily. He was seen as a harmless kook. My friend Daniel contacted me after my return from Backmud and sent me a screenshot that Ryan was again attempting to get him to put him into contact with Interior Ministers to bring these terrorists to Ukraine. I had no further contact or mention of him until I saw his picture on the day of the attempted assassination. I contacted the Cleveland FBI Field Office as well as the National FBI tip line, gave information and contact information. Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect updated information from the Secret Service announced Monday.