Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump has pinned blame for the latest attempt on his life on the Democratic left, saying that “their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at.”
On Sept. 15 (Sunday), while Trump was playing golf at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida, U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire upon identifying a gunman lurking in the woods along the property.
The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, was captured 45 minutes after he fled the scene, where he left behind what authorities described as an “AK-47 style” rifle equipped with a scope, two backpacks filled with ceramic tiles and a GoPro camera. It was later revealed to be a modified SKS carbine, which also uses the Soviet 7.62mm cartridge.
While Routh supported Trump in 2016, according to his now-scrubbed social media footprint, he came to believe the billionaire was a threat to democracy. More recently, Routh supported Democrat causes and became a pro-Ukraine activist, attempting to recruit for the Ukrainian army and spending some time in the country following Russia’s invasion in early 2022.
“It seems you are getting worse and devolving. I will be glad when you gone,” Routh had written on X in a now-deleted post.
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In an interview with Fox News Digital the day following the incident, Trump said he believes the rhetoric of current President Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris portraying him as a singular threat is what drove Routh to try to kill him.
“They do it with a combination of rhetoric and lawsuits they wrap me up in… These are the things that dangerous fools, like the shooter, listen to. That is the rhetoric they listen to, and the same with the first one,” Trump said.
In a statement on Sunday, Kamala Harris, who is currently serving as U.S. Vice President, said, “I am deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of former President Trump today,” adding that, “As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence.”
Routh’s foiled act is the second time in as many months that the former president has been targeted for assassination. On July 13, Trump was shot in the ear while speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania. One rallygoer was killed and two others injured by the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was himself shot dead by Secret Service snipers.
Trump himself had turned his head at the moment the bullet hit him, which otherwise would have gone through his brain.
“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out,” Trump told Fox News.
Trump campaign: ‘The psycho was egged on’
The day following the attack, Trump’s campaign website published the following statement, “Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump was the target of a second assassination attempt in as many months. Thankfully, the would-be assassin was stopped by the heroic action of law enforcement — but make no mistake, the psycho was egged on by the rhetoric and lies that have flowed from Kamala Harris, Democrats, and their Fake News Allies for years.”
Current president Joe Biden is quoted as saying, “It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye,” and, “There is one existential threat: it’s Donald Trump,” while it cites a statement by Harris as saying, “Trump is a threat to our democracy and fundamental freedoms,” and “It’s on us to recognize the threat [Trump] poses.”
A number of other prominent Democrats were also quoted, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who said, “[Trump] is a threat to our democracy of the kind that we have not seen,” and Rep. Steve Cohen who allegedly said. “Trump is an enemy of the United States.”
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According to property records, the 58-year-old Ryan Wesly Routh is originally from North Carolina, where he spent most of his life, but has most recently resided in Hawaii.
Routh, who smiled and was heard laughing in his first court appearance, has a multiple-count criminal history.
In 2002 he was convicted of possessing a fully automatic machine gun. In the following years he faced other charges, including felony possession of stolen goods, carrying a concealed weapon, resisting law enforcement, and was involved in a hit-and-run incident.
On his now-scrubbed X account, Routh had written of Trump, “While you were my choice in 2106, I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment [sic].”
Since 2019, Routh has made some small donations to Democratic candidates including $140 to the Democratic platform ActBlue.
Routh is scheduled to appear for a detention hearing on Sept. 23 to determine whether he will remain in custody and will be arraigned on Sept. 30.
So far, he has been charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, with the possibility of additional charges as the investigation into his actions continue.
