The suspect Ryan Routh was referred to Homeland Security Investigations by Customs and Border Protection officials, but no immediate action was taken, as per an official statement.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had been alerted about Ryan Routh, the alleged would-be assassin of former President Donald Trump, two years prior, but Homeland Security investigators did not act promptly, according to testimony given on Capitol Hill on Sept. 18.
Katrina Berger, the executive associate director for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), revealed during a hearing that CBP had received warnings about Routh’s behavior in 2022, as he started recruiting foreign fighters for Ukraine from abroad.
Despite the information received by CBP, Routh, a 58-year-old resident of Hawaii, was arrested on Sept. 15 after fleeing from Trump’s golf course. Secret Service agents fired at Routh when they saw a rifle barrel protruding through a fence at a West Palm Beach club where Trump was golfing that day.
Berger testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance at a hearing titled “Oversight of Homeland Security Investigations,” confirming a report by The Wall Street Journal that described Routh as a freedom fighter returning from Ukraine whose behavior had raised concerns.
According to witnesses interviewed for the article, Routh had exhibited threatening behavior while in Ukraine, expressing intentions to target foreign leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
During questioning from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Berger stated that based on the information available, there was no immediate need to detain Routh, as he had not made any threats against Trump.
Gaetz referenced a memo from CBP to HSI that detailed Routh’s activities in Ukraine, where he had spent three months recruiting fighters from various countries to assist in the Ukrainian conflict against Russia.
Routh had moved to Hawaii in 2018 and established Camp Box Honolulu, a company specializing in building tiny houses and sheds. Earlier this year, he was in North Carolina, where he participated in the 2024 Democratic primary election.
Gaetz suggested that HSI had not only opted against arresting Routh but had also failed to investigate him further.
Berger could not immediately confirm whether HSI had conducted an investigation into Routh.
She did confirm that four HSI agents were present at the golf course when Routh was apprehended. During a previous assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, where a shooter narrowly missed Trump, HSI had 16 agents on site.
A bipartisan U.S. Senate committee is currently looking into the Butler assassination attempt and is expected to release an interim report by the end of the month.
There are concerns about the security lapses that allowed an assailant to fire shots at Trump from a roof in broad daylight. The recent attempt on Sept. 15 has raised questions about how Routh was able to surveil the golf course for 12 hours before Trump’s appearance, especially since Trump’s visit was not officially scheduled and agents had limited time to prepare.
Routh did not target Trump directly, as officials confirmed that Trump was not within his line of sight.
Law enforcement was aware that certain areas along the golf course perimeter provided visibility of golfers, including Trump, to individuals standing behind the fence. During Trump’s presidency, news photographers often captured images of him on the course by utilizing gaps in the shrubbery.
Routh expressed regret for supporting Trump in 2016 in a self-published book from 2023 titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,” where he made controversial statements about Iran and Trump.
The Associated Press, Samantha Flom, and Janice Hisle contributed to this report.
