58-year-old suspect Ryan Routh has been charged in an alleged attempt to assassinate U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. During the investigation, the suspect was found to be a staunch supporter of Ukraine and Taiwan.
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00:00Investigations are underway into this man, 58-year-old Ryan Routh, who allegedly staged
00:07an assassination attempt targeting U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
00:13Routh was supposedly lying in the bushes with an AK-47-style assault rifle, coming just
00:19a few hundred yards away from the former president while he was golfing in Florida.
00:25Routh fired no shots before being found and detained.
00:29Now new details about his motivations.
00:32A former Trump supporter with a long digital trail and strong views on U.S. geopolitical
00:38ties.
00:39We're going through media reports and public statements he made that he wanted to recruit
00:44Afghan soldiers and others to fight for Ukraine.
00:48The suspect denounced Trump on social media and in a self-published book for his failure
00:54to support Ukraine against Russia's invasion.
00:58Routh was also vocal about boosting Taiwan's defenses against China.
01:03He's listed on this website, named Taiwan Foreign Legion, as the main contact for international
01:09volunteers, an unofficial group that claims to recruit fighters for Taiwan in the event
01:15of a war with China, akin to Routh's proclaimed mission to support Kiev.
01:21We need thousands and thousands and thousands of people here fighting with the Ukrainians.
01:26Taiwan's defense ministry declined to comment on Routh and the pro-Taiwan website.
01:32Meanwhile, with less than 50 days to go until the presidential election, security is a top
01:38concern.
01:40This is the second apparent attempt to assassinate Trump.
01:43Two months ago, a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally, hitting the Republican
01:48candidate in the ear.
01:50The security failure prompting a leadership reshuffle in the U.S. Secret Service.
01:56We need to get out of a reactive model and get to a readiness model.
02:00There could be another geopolitical event that could put the United States into a kinetic
02:05conflict.
02:06Choosing to politicize the alleged shooting attempt, Trump's running mate J.D. Vance hit
02:12out at their Democrat counterparts.
02:14No one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months, and two people
02:20now have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months.
02:23I'd say that's pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric.
02:28Both U.S. President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris have condemned
02:34the latest reported attempt on Trump's life, saying there is no place for political violence
02:40in the United States, a country that has positioned itself as a beacon of democracy, now worried
02:46about having not just free and fair elections, but a safe one.
02:51Klein Wong and Joyce Sun, for Taiwan Plus.