09/19/2024

Who is the second would-be Trump assassin, Ryan Routh?

The 58-year-old male from Greensboro, North Carolina was taken into custody last Sunday after leaving behind an AK-47 rifle just outside a golfing course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Reports say that, while being detained, Routh showed no emotion and refrained from questioning the purpose of his arrest.

Routh is far from unfamiliar when it comes to run-ins with the law. In 2002, he was involved in a 3-hour stand-off with Greenboro police that resulted in a felony charge of possession of a weapon of mass destruction; it is important to note that this charge could be in reference to his possession of an AK-47. In 2010, Routh was convicted of driving without a license, a hit-and-run and possession of stolen goods. In 2018, he then moved to Oahu, Hawaii where he ran a shed building business, albiet seemly perfunctory according to online reviews.

In more recent years, Routh has become an extreme supporter of Ukarine. He even appeared in a propaganda video for the Azov Brigade, a well-known Ukrainian military unit accused of Neo-Nazi orgins with ties to the CIA. His primary mission in Ukraine consisted of the recruitment of Afghan soldiers. Routh was even featured in a 2023 interview with the New York Times, who stated, "With (Ukrainian) Legion growth stalling, Ryan Routh, a former construction worker from Greensboro, NC is seeking recruits from among Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban. Mr. Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he planned to move them, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine."

A Semafor report published in March of 2023 cited Routh as director of the International Vounteer Center (IVC), an organization that works with volunteers and NGOs to "enhance the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Ukraine." Routh was quoted in the report as complaining about facing obstacles in importing foreign soldiers, including a group of Afghan commandos who were facing skeptisim and bureaucratic roadblocks in Kiev. IVC has since denounced any claim of having been affiliated with Routh.

How did Routh develop Afghan contacts and assets? How could a construction worker from Greesnboro, North Carolina afford to move to Hawaii and make multiple trips to and from Ukraine on earnings from a failing shed building business? And how did a man with his history slip through the State Departments travel checks to a country accused of high corruption and money laundering?

Perhpes most questionable of all is Ryan Routh’s vague connection to the CIA. Before being raided by the FBI and having his X account erased, it was discovered that his first follow on the platform, out of a small group of 60, was to a former CIA analyst named Dr. Soo Kim. Kim, also a former policy analyst at the RAND Corperation, is a Yale graduate with an MA in International Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. Kim has also worked for the Department of Homeland Security and is a member of the Council of Korean Americans. Her background and affiliations are typical of those who work in the intelligence community. Kim is not a public figure or a well-known CIA affiliate. Where would Routh have known or heard of her?

Is Routh indeed the lone actor the media is attempting to portray him as, or is there actually more to the story? Could this be yet another in a long line of co-ops involving US “alphabet agencies?”