Chelsea Walsh was in Kyiv as a nurse and aid worker early in the Ukraine war. Ryan Routh was there to recruit foreign soldiers to fight the Russians. Walsh watched him grow angry and unhinged, kicking a panhandler, threatening to burn down a music studio that slighted him and speaking of his own children with hatred.
She also reported Routh’s obsessive plotting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin. Routh is a "ticking time bomb,” she told U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at Dulles airport near Washington, D.C., in June 2022. She says she later repeated her concerns to the FBI and Interpol, the international policing group, reports the Associated Press. Walsh never heard back about her tips. She saw him in the news on Sept. 15 accused of stalking Donald Trump at a Florida golf course in an apparent assassination attempt.
Walsh’s account was one of at least four to the U.S. government that raised suspicions about Routh in the years leading up to his arrest. What was done in response that could have stopped Routh or put him under greater scrutiny is not clear. Some people are asking whether federal agencies are vigilant enough or even equipped enough to deal with a growing number of potential threats that are brought to their attention.
“Federal agencies ought to be on the highest alert to detect and combat these threats,” said Sen Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Walsh, who saw Roush in Ukraine, said, ".The authorities have definitely dropped the ball on this. They were warned.” Customs and Border Protection and the FBI would not comment. In a self-published book, Roush advised Iran, "You are free to assassinate Trump” in retaliation for the former president’s decision to abandon the U.S. nuclear deal with that country. In 2019, three years before Routh flew to Kyiv to build a foreign legion, the FBI followed up on a tip that he was in possession of a firearm despite felony convictions from years earlier. When questioned, the tipster backed off and did not verify providing the initial information. In June 2023, Routh was pulled aside by Customs and Border Protection agents at the Honolulu airport when returning from Ukraine, Poland and Turkey, and asked about his activities overseas.
Comments