About

Ryan Wesley Routh is the suspected shooter involved in the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, which occurred in mid-September 2024. Routh reportedly attempted to shoot Trump while he was golfing at the Trump International Gold Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The 58-year-old former Hawaii resident reportedly pointed a rifle at Trump through the grated fence of a golf course before a Secret Service agent spotted him and fired in his direction. Routh reportedly fled the scene and was arrested while driving on Interstate 95. In the aftermath of the shooting attempt, many internet users pored over Routh's internet history, noting his vocal support of Ukraine in their war against Russia and his tendency to propagate COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Social media users were also split on his disparate political opinions as expressed on his now-deleted X / Twitter account, which ranged from supporting a Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy ticket to supporting various Democratic politicians like Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders or criticizing Donald Trump.

History

Assassination Attempt of Donald Trump

On September 15th, 2024, Donald Trump was golfing at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida and was between the fifth and the seventh hole when the attempted shooting occurred. At roughly 1:30 p.m. local time, a Secret Service agent trailing ahead of Trump to secure the area spotted Ryan Routh with a rifle and scope in the tree line and fired in his direction, with Trump standing 300 to 500 yards away from him.^[1]

Routh then fled the scene in a black Nissan and was eventually apprehended nearly 40 miles away from the golf course going north on Interstate 95. An eyewitness took photos of Routh's car and license plate before he fled, aiding in his arrest. These facts, minus Routh's name, were relayed by Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw in a news conference on Sunday evening.^[2]

Soon after Routh was arrested, photos of him dressed in a salmon-pink shirt began to circulate online after 5 p.m. EST on September 15th, 2024. Routh was then identified as a 58-year-old Hawaii resident originally from North Carolina. Routh owned and operated a roofing business in N.C. before moving to Hawaii.

Prior Run-In With Police

According to news reports from December 16th, 2002, a man named Ryan Routh entered a three-hour standoff with local police after he was pulled over for a traffic stop and barricaded himself in his roofing business.

Routh reportedly placed his hand on his weapon and drove away after being pulled over at 10 p.m. as part of a routine traffic stop, and was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a fully automatic machine gun. He was also charged with resisting, delaying and obstructing a law enforcement officer and driving while his license was revoked.^[10]

Social Media Post Archives

Ryan Routh's Facebook and X / Twitter social media profiles were deleted soon after he was identified as the Trump attempted shooter on September 15th, 2024. However, various internet users archived both his accounts as seen in a September 15th post by X^[6] user @realjakejacks (seen below, top) and a post by X^[7] user @BillboardChris (seen below, bottom)

I got his whole page pic.twitter.com/bvFs9et7Hn

— Jake Jackson (@realjakejacks) September 15, 2024

Here is a screen recording with all of attempted assassin @RyanRouth’s posts, in case his account gets deleted. pic.twitter.com/qyiURqNZp0

— Billboard Chris 🇨🇦🇺🇸 (@BillboardChris) September 15, 2024

An archive of Routh's X account can also be accessed on the Internet Archive.^[8]

Ukraine War Recruitment Efforts

Ryan Routh was reportedly a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia and repeatedly posted online about his attempts to help them in their war efforts. It is unclear if Routh ever succeeded in recruiting any soldiers for the war.

On May 1st, 2022, Routh appeared in an Azov Battalion propaganda video posted by X^[5] account @save_mrpl, roughly at the 1:50 timestamp.

This video is a message to the world from the Mariupol defenders.They are grateful for our support and ask us to keep on fighting.“Thank you to everyone who supports the Defenders of Mariupol and raises the issue of Mariupol at the international levelMariupol is🇺🇦”#savemariupol pic.twitter.com/WiQfSiA2Gx

— SAVE AZOV 🇺🇦 (@save_mrpl) May 1, 2022

On June 14th, 2022, Newsweek Romania's YouTube^[3] interviewed Routh about his efforts to recruit soldiers to fight on behalf of Ukraine in the war. The video gathered over 50,000 views in two years.

A March 25th, 2023, New York Times^[5] article titled, "Stolen Valor: The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker" featured an interview with Routh in which he spoke about his attempts to recruit Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban to join the efforts in Ukraine.

Routh also attempted to procure a "rocket" from Elon Musk to load it with warheads and aim it at Putin's bunker to "end him," as seen in an April 21st, 2024, post on his X account.

Routh also attempted to recruit musicians Elton John and Dave Mathews Band to write an "emotional tribute song" for Ukraine on December 28th, 2023.

Political Stance

Many internet users noted that Ryan Routh repeatedly criticized Donald Trump and expressed his support for a Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy ticket. Routh also tweeted about supporting Trump in 2016 but eventually soured on him.^[13]

However, according to the Federal Election Commission's^[9] website for individual donor contributions, Ryan Routh contributed to ActBlue in 2020 with donations earmarked for Democratic politicians including Tulsi Gabbard, Andrew Yang, Beto O’Rourke, Tom Steyer and Elizabeth Warren.

Routh is also known to have expressed support for the Biden administration and Bernie Sanders on his X account.

Online Reactions

Many internet users posted memes and jokes about Ryan Routh, with X^[11] user @SwannMarcus89 writing, "Trump's alleged shooter appears to have been a pro-Ukraine covid conspiracy theorist who thought China released the coronavirus on purpose as a bioweapon and supported a Nikki Haley/Vivek Ramaswamy presidential ticket," and posting a swirling Political Compass meme on September 15th, 2024. The post gathered over 47,000 likes in a day.

On September 16th, X^[12] account @SocDoneLeft posted a crude drawing showing Harris's polling numbers going up after Trump's assassination attempt, with a joke about how the "median voter" condones political violence.

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References