Ryan Routh was 'flagged' by law enforcement after 2023 return from Ukraine—Biden-Harris DHS declined to follow up

It has been revealed that the man arrested in connection to the second Trump assassination attempt on Sunday, Ryan Wesley Routh, had been flagged by US Customs and Border Protection officials for further investigation when he returned from Ukraine in 2023, but the Department of Homeland Security declined to pursue the case.

According to Just The News, Routh was interviewed by CBP officials at the Honolulu airport, where he admitted to recruiting up to 100 fighters from Afghanistan, Moldova, and Taiwan to join Ukraine in its war against Russia. CBP officials knew that Routh had traveled to Warsaw, Poland near the Ukraine border, as well as Istanbul, Turkey, in 2022 and 2023.



Routh also reportedly handed the interviewing agents a business card that listed him as the director of a group called the "International Volunteer Center” that claimed to have contact with Syria, Pakistan, and Israel.

"Subject is a USC who had traveled to Kiev, Ukraine for 3 months to help recruit Soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova, and Taiwan, to fight in the Ukrainian war against Russia," the CBP interview notes stated.

"Subject stated that he does not get paid for his recruiting efforts and all his work for the Ukrainian government is strictly volunteer work,” the notes said, adding, “Subject provided his recruiting business card (cards have been uploaded into the event) which list his recruiting partners that he speaks with to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Romanian, Pakistan, Syria, and Israel."

The interview memo added that Routh was referred to Homeland Security Investigations, but the division declined. “HSI was contacted and refused the case,” the interview memo stated.

Since Routh’s Sunday arrest, it has been revealed that the FBI received a tip in 2019 about Routh being a felon in possession of a weapon. "In following up on the tip, the alleged complainant was interviewed and did not verify, I repeat, did not verify providing the initial information. The FBI passed that information to local law enforcement in Honolulu," Jeffrey Veltri, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami’s field office, said in a Monday press conference. Routh has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number

On Sunday, the Secret Service opened fire as Trump was playing golf in Florida after they noticed the suspect in the bushes with a gun. The suspect fled and was later arrested on I-95. Officials said on Sunday that the suspect had been hiding in the "bushes" and that "an AK-47 style rifle with a scope, two backpacks which were hung on the fence that had ceramic tile in them, and a GoPro" had been found in the bushes at the golf course.

On social media, Routh frequently posted in support of Ukraine, stating that he was "willing to die" for the country, and was featured in the New York Times in 2023 for his work in recruiting and transporting fighters to support Ukraine. Routh also published a book in 2023 about how Ukraine must win the "unwinnable war" against Russia where he also urged Iran to assassinate Trump.