Swedish photojournalist Kevin Chang went to Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion to document the situation in the country.
Among other things, he interviewed the American volunteer Ryan Routh – who two years later was arrested for the attempted murder of Donald Trump.
– I went over and had a little chat with him and thought he stood out.
When Ukraine was invaded in February 2022, Ryan Routh traveled there to help as a volunteer. Photojournalist Kevin Chang also traveled there, who wanted to portray the refugee flows that arose after Russia’s full-scale invasion. There he met Ryan Routh, who is now suspected of attempted murder of US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
– I went over and had a little chat with him and thought he stood out, he says in TV4’s Efter fem.
“People started writing in capital letters and exclamation marks”
Kevin describes him as “odd”, but adds that there was also a certain fragility and nervousness in the 58-year-old.
– Maybe he had something in his eyes, but I saw it more as a conviction to continue on this journey, rather than as a mania.
After talking to Ryan Routh for a couple of days, he finally got to take a portrait of the now suspect man. When he then received word that the man he met in Ukraine had been arrested for the attempted assassination of Trump, he was shocked.
– It is difficult to describe. I don’t think I realized how big it was until people started writing in capitals and exclamation marks, he says.
Nurse warned: “Grateful bomb”
Today, the detention hearing against Routh will take place. And already in 2022, several warning signals came. An American nurse who was in the same area tells the AP that she warned Routh – whom she described as a “ticking time bomb”. He was also rejected by the armed forces of Ukraine.
Kevin Chang tells us that Routh had some plans that seemed strange. Among other things, he wanted volunteers from all over the world to form a human shield that would protect against Russia’s attacks.
– All of us there were heading towards something unknown on our own. And under the circumstances I would still say that he was not “too odd” so to speak.