NEW YORK, September 17. /TASS/. Ryan Wesley Routh, a suspect in the assassination attempt on US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, tried to join the ranks of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine, but was not accepted as he was considered ‘a wack job,’ The New York Post reported, citing sources in the conflict zone.

According to their information, Routh tried to join the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, but was rejected. "[Routh is] a crazy idiot, but no one’s really surprised. There are people like that [in Ukraine] that show up and are desperate to help and be important," an American mercenary told the newspaper, adding that Routh "was just one of those - just on the crazier end of things." Another mercenary said that the suspect in the assassination case was "extremely shady," as well as "unbalanced and dangerous."

Mercenaries pointed out that after Routh was rejected, he tried to recruit volunteers to fight for Kiev on his own, and even came up with "some scheme" to recruit former Afghan fighters to participate in the Ukrainian conflict. However, his "efforts drew scorn," the sources pointed out. Now American mercenaries and volunteers fear that reports on the activities of the suspect in the assassination attempt "could crush critical US support" for Kiev, the newspaper said.

On September 16, special agent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Jeffrey Veltri said that the agency was investigating media reports that Routh wanted to recruit mercenaries to be sent to Ukraine. Member of the US House of Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, in turn, said that the suspect may be obsessed with the conflict in Ukraine. According to The New York Times, Routh personally traveled to Ukraine and supported the Kiev authorities. The suspect also advocated sending American veterans of the conflict in Afghanistan to Ukraine and expressed a desire to fight on Kiev's side, the newspaper said.

On September 15, the FBI reported a shooting outside the Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, where the politician was staying. The incident, which occurred about two months after an assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania, is being treated as a possible assassination attempt on him. The Secret Service specified that its employee opened fire on an armed man. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw specified that an AK-47 assault rifle with a telescopic sight, two backpacks with ceramic plates and an action camera were found near the territory of the golf club, where the suspect was trying to hide. The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is in custody.