Politically, the 58-year-old was recently a staunch opponent of Donald Trump and alternately shared his support for Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and the Republican Trump challengers Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy on social networks. It is still unclear what specific motive R. had.
As the British “Telegraph” writes, among others, R. stayed there shortly after Russia's attack on Ukraine. According to CNN, the suspected attacker also repeatedly tried to recruit soldiers for the Ukrainian side on his social media accounts.
In an interview with the New York Times last year, R. stated that he had traveled to Afghanistan specifically for this purpose. His goal was to find fighters among Afghan soldiers. To this end, he also planned to buy new passports for the volunteers in Pakistan.
The Ukrainian side explained that R. was not particularly well respected in their circles at the time. A senior official of the International Legion of Ukraine who was in contact with R. told the Telegraph: “I could tell from a mile away that he was just talking shit.”
With his X profile, which has now been deleted, R., as “Bild” writes, also contacted Elon Musk directly. Under one of the tech billionaire's posts, he wrote that he would like to buy a rocket from the SpaceX founder. “I want to equip them with a warhead for Putin's Black Sea bunker to destroy him. Can you please give me a price?”
After he had to cut short his round of golf, Donald Trump commented on the incident: “There were shots fired around me, but before the rumors get out of control: I'm fine, I'm safe,” he wrote in an email to election donors. The former US president was combative towards his supporters. “I will never give up!” (“I will NEVER SURRENDER!”), he wrote in the email, as US media report.
On his Truth Social platform, Trump described a “really interesting day.” He particularly thanked the Secret Service, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and all law enforcement officers who did an “incredible job.”
