The man arrested in connection with a second attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was flagged by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) two years ago, but Homeland Security investigators took no immediate action, according to testimony on Capitol Hill on Sept. 18.
CBP was warned about Ryan Routh, Trump’s alleged would-be assassin, who began recruiting foreign fighters for Ukraine overseas, according to Sept. 18 testimony from Katrina Berger, executive associate director for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
She confirmed during a Capital Hill hearing that CBP received information about Routh’s erratic behavior in 2022 but did not take him into custody and could not confirm that he was investigated.
Routh, 58, of Hawaii, was arrested on Sept. 15 after a witness took pictures of his vehicle as he fled from Trump’s golf course and sent them to law enforcement. Secret Service agents had opened fire on the suspect after they spotted a rifle barrel poking through a shrub-lined fence at a West Palm Beach club where Trump was playing golf that day.
Berger appeared before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance for a hearing titled “Oversight of Homeland Security Investigations.”
Berger confirmed a news report by The Wall Street Journal that described Routh as a freedom fighter returning from Ukraine whose behavior was brought to the attention of authorities, including HSI.
In the article, people who were interviewed claimed that Routh was dangerous and made threats while in Ukraine to kill foreign leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“Based on the information that I read, there would not have been any reason to immediately take him into custody,” Berger told the committee.
“He had not made any threats” against Trump, she added in response to questions from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
Gaetz, citing a CBP memo to HSI about Routh, said Routh had traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, for three months to help recruit fighters from Afghanistan, Moldova, and Taiwan for the Ukrainian war against Russia.
Routh moved to Hawaii in 2018 and started Camp Box Honolulu, a company that builds tiny houses and sheds. He was in North Carolina earlier this year when he voted in the 2024 Democratic primary.
“What I believe happened is HSI declined not only to incarcerate this person but to further investigate the person,” Gaetz said.
Berger could not immediately verify whether HSI investigated Routh.
“I would have to look into that a little bit further, so I'll get back to you,” Berger said.
Berger verified that four HSI agents were at the golf course when the suspect was spotted.
HSI had 16 agents present during the previous attempted assassination of Trump at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he narrowly escaped death after a shooter’s bullet nicked his ear.
The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, killed one Trump supporter and wounded two others before a Secret Service sniper shot and killed him.
A bipartisan U.S. Senate committee is investigating the attempted assassination in Butler. The committee plans to issue an interim report by the end of the month.
There are questions about how an assailant could climb to a roof in broad daylight and fire eight shots from a rifle at Trump.
The Sept. 15 attempt has also raised concerns as to how Routh allegedly staked out the golf course for 12 hours before Trump appeared. Trump’s visit to the golf course was an “off-the-record movement,” meaning it wasn’t on his official schedule that day. The spur-of-the-moment event implies that agents may not have had much time to prepare for his outing.
