The individual accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at his golf course on Sunday had previously urged the Iranian government to eliminate the former president in a book he co-authored with his wife, Kathleen Shaffer.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, expressed remorse to the Iranian people, claiming responsibility for his 2016 vote for Trump in his self-published book, Ukraine’s Unwinnable War. The book is a disorganized reflection on his views regarding global politics.
“I must take part of the blame for the retarded child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless, but I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake and Iran I apologize,” Routh states in the book, which was released last year.
“You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the [nuclear] deal. No one here in the US seems to have the balls to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection,” Routh added.
In 2018, two years after taking office, Trump withdrew the U.S. from a nuclear deal with Iran and reinstated sanctions that had previously been eased as part of the 2015 agreement.
In addition to his call for Trump’s assassination, Routh also advocated for the killing of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the same book. The book, edited by Shaffer, 61, who works as a manager at Old Navy in Hawaii, is still available on Amazon.
“We all ponder as to why our great minds did not simply kill Hitler early on, and now why have we not taken steps to kill Putin at all costs to end this war,” Routh writes.
According to reports, Secret Service agents encountered Routh on Sunday near the fifth and sixth holes of Trump’s golf course, located close to the Mar-a-Lago resort.
Agents reportedly spotted Routh’s firearm sticking out of nearby bushes, prompting one agent to fire a shot, causing him to flee his position where he had allegedly been stationed for nearly 12 hours.
Routh escaped to his car and drove away, but a witness managed to take a photo of his vehicle, including the license plate. He was subsequently arrested while traveling on I-95.
Routh appeared in federal court on Monday morning, facing charges for possessing a firearm despite a prior felony conviction, as well as having a gun with an obliterated serial number.
In his lengthy book, Routh recounts a five-month effort to join the war in Ukraine, comparing his situation to that of British author George Orwell, who went to Spain in 1936 to fight against fascism during the Spanish Civil War.
“I, just like every other good human with a moral compass, knew that the right thing to do was to go to Ukraine and fight for freedom and human rights, and that is what I did,” Routh claims, noting that it took him a month to pack his belongings, store them, and acquire unspecified “military gear” for the journey.
Routh describes traveling to Poland with the hope of enlisting but says he was rejected due to his age and lack of military background.
His attempts to participate in the Ukrainian conflict in 2022 by volunteering in any capacity were unsuccessful. He set up a temporary tent for international volunteers in Kyiv’s Independence Square, but it was dismantled by police a few weeks later.
When Routh tried to set up camp in another public square, he again faced resistance from both Ukrainian authorities and citizens.
“I had hoped that I could bend Ukraine towards democracy and freedom and human rights and be a representative of the USA,” Routh writes. “I lost the fight. It was a childish, idealistic endeavor that was unwinnable.”
Throughout his book, Routh frequently complains about the costs he personally incurred for food and shelter, claiming he received no support from the Ukrainians, despite his intentions to help defend them against Russian aggression.
“Far more saddening than the difference in mindset is the lack of appreciation for those that pay to travel to Ukraine and risk death to fight for their freedom,” he said. “There seems to be a total disregard for the sacrifice.”
The book also contains graphic images depicting violence from Iran, Afghanistan, and other global conflict zones.
{Matzav.com}
