Right after the news broke yesterday that there had been another assassination attempt on Donald Trump, and that the suspected shooter had been arrested alive, the speculation began.

As Nina wrote yesterday, we got a partial answer on the “how” this had happened yet again. The answer was that Trump, as a former president and current candidate, apparently does not qualify for full perimeter coverage. Which seems at odds with the coverage that is apparently granted to former president Barack Obama. Reportedly, a Secret Service agent was fortunate enough to see a muzzle sticking out of the fence at the golf course.

The former president was playing golf Sunday at his course in West Palm Beach when Secret Service agents, posted at a few holes nearby, noticed a man with a rifle push the firearm’s muzzle through the perimeter of the course, authorities told the media. The rifle was sticking through the bushes, between 300 and 500 yards away.

A Secret Service agent fired at the man, who dropped the AK-47-style rifle and fled in a car. Secret Service officials contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office around 1:30 p.m., prompting authorities to immediately seal off the area, county Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.

Authorities eventually apprehended a man traveling from Palm Beach County into Martin County on I-95 after a witness captured a photograph of the individual’s vehicle, Bradshaw said. An AK-47-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks and a GoPro were found in the bushes where the suspect was spotted, he added.

There is a strong possibility that thanks to this Secret Service agent’s actions, the would-be assassin never got a shot off, and that all the reported gunfire belonged to the agent who spotted the suspect. The question of “who shot first” and the exact sequence of event surrounding the discovery of the suspect have yet to be clearly detailed.

However, by Sunday evening, we had a name, a rap sheet, and a picture emerging of a very unbalanced man.

A background check on the name given by officials, Ryan Wesley Routh, revealed that he currently lives in Hawaii and has faced dozens of run-ins with police, stretching back to at least the 1990s.

Routh is a native of North Carolina, where his list of arrests includes simple drug possession, driving without a license, expired inspection and operating a vehicle with no insurance. In addition, the Greensboro News & Record reported in 2002 that Routh was arrested after barricading himself in his roofing company’s office during a three-hour standoff that followed a traffic stop in which he put his hand on a gun before fleeing.

Routh moved to Hawaii in 2017, records show. He has since launched another construction company in Hawaii that builds simple housing structures for homeless people, according to a LinkedIn page that appears to belong to Routh.

There was a little bit more to that 2002 case in Greenboro. According to records, Routh was in possession of a “fully automatic machine gun.” He apparently received probation.

2002 appears on the weapons casehttps://t.co/iCtaIuqoVB pic.twitter.com/ZL0LQxlqiQ

— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) September 15, 2024

Now, Florida is not exactly next door to Hawaii. It’s pretty apparent that quite a lot of planning went into Routh’s alleged assassination attempt. And his attitude toward Donald Trump was confirmed by his son.

Routh’s son, Oran Routh, reached by DailyMail.com shortly after Sunday’s shooting, said this was the first he’d heard of the alleged assassination attempt.

‘This was the first I heard about it,’ the 35-year-old exclusively told DailyMail.com. ‘Was my father shot or injured?’

He said his father hates Trump as ‘every reasonable person does.

‘I don’t like Trump either,’ the son added.

But he said his dad is not a violent person and couldn’t believe his father would target the president.

Routh said his father, who had no military experience, said he had traveled to Ukraine following Russia’s 2022 invasion to help volunteer and provide aid to those affected.

Routh moved to Hawaii a few years back and was living with his longtime girlfriend. He said he didn’t know his father was even in Florida.

‘He said he was at the beach, but I thought that meant the outer banks in Hawaii,’ he said. ‘I didn’t ask him for more information because we’ve had a falling out. We’ve grown apart.’

He wouldn’t explain the nature of their ‘falling out,’ but still spoke highly of his father.

‘He’s not a violent person,’ he said. ‘He’s a hard worker and a great dad. He’s a great dude, a nice guy and has worked his whole f**king life.’

Later in a rambling text, Routh appeared to justify his father’s actions.

‘I hate this game every four years, and think that we all do, and if my father wants to be a martyr to how broken and disassociated the process has become from the real problems and practical solutions, then that’s his choice.

‘I’m not saying that’s what he’s done or what he’s about, that’s just my own rant being fed up with it all for my entire adult life,’ he wrote.

Notice that language being used by the son here, referring to his father as a potential “martyr.” Committing a cold-blooded murder makes a person a martyr now? I just thought it made a person a murderer and assassin. The stretch to try and justify what could have happened is wildly insane.

But on to the Ukraine issue. It appears that Ryan Routh’s pet obsession over the last couple of years has been Ukraine. So much so, that he traveled to the country AND encouraged others to do so as well.
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1835450355225928089
We know this because he gave interviews about his involvement, and not to just random podcasts or radio talk shows. Nope, his interviews appeared via Newsweek (their Romanian outlet), Semafor, and the New York Times. And why not? Ukraine is one of the media’s pet causes, too.
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1835460376739086727

BREAKING: The New York Times interviewed alleged Donald Trump ass*ss*n Ryan Routh in 2023 about his plans to recruit Afghan soldiers and illegally transport them to fight in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/WpidbiDlir

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 15, 2024

But the media has no time for introspection on how a weirdly obsessed man ended up on their radar more than once. You see, they just know that it’s all Donald Trump’s fault that he was targeted YET AGAIN.

It has nothing to do with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris repeatedly claiming that Trump is a “threat to democracy” – it’s always Trump’s fault for his “rhetoric.” Um, maybe when you keep insisting that Trump is a threat, some crackpot with an unhealthy fixation and a firearm is going to take you SERIOUSLY. Naturally, both Kamala Harris and Joe Biden put out statements decrying the assassination attempt. But if Donald Trump is such a threat to democracy, then why are they glad that he is okay? Perhaps someone’s “rhetoric” is just a wee bit too MUCH right now?

Kamala Harris needs to make up her mind. Either Donald Trump is a “threat to democracy” – which means that he needs to be stopped by any means necessary, right? – or Donald Trump is just the person blocking the way to the presidency for her and not an actual threat to democracy or the country. Joe Biden couldn’t have it both ways, and neither can she. The Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) need to ditch this rhetoric in order to bring some sanity back, or we can keep going, and there will be yet another crazy person who decides that they alone can end the “threat.”

The alleged would-be assassin is in custody, uninjured and probably wanting to talk. Will that make the story harder for the media to bury? Perhaps, but they will try their hardest to do so. It’s only been just over two months since Donald Trump survived his first assassination attempt, and how often is that brought up in the media now? And how often would it be brought up if Kamala Harris had survived two assassination attempts? I think we all know the answer to that.

Featured image: screenshot from WPTV News report on YouTube, cropped and modified