A year ago, Ryan Routh was trying to organise transport and travel documents for Afghan soldiers who wanted to fight on the front line for Ukraine against Russia. Now he is accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump, the apparent second attempt on Trump’s life in as many months.
At around 1.30pm on Sunday 15 September Trump was heading to the sixth hole at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida when his Secret Service detail, which was a hole or two ahead, noticed the barrel of a gun poking out from a fence. They opened fire on the gunman who fled in a black Nissan, leaving behind an AK-47-style weapon with a scope, two rucksacks and a GoPro, according to the local sheriff. The suspect was arrested soon after, 38 miles away.
Routh, a 58-year-old former roofer from North Carolina, is a fervent supporter of Ukraine and visited the country in the early months of the war. Last year, the New York Times interviewed him about his Afghanistan scheme. “In my opinion everyone should be there supporting the Ukrainians,” he told a reporter from the paper who has since said Routh’s “voice [was] urgent, exasperated and a little suspicious over the phone”. In one tweet, Routh wrote: “I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE.”
The suspected assassination attempt will bring renewed scrutiny on the Secret Service amid questions over whether the level of Trump’s security, which is already substantially lower than if he were president, is sufficient.
Speculation around his protection is the root of several conspiracy theories in this presidential campaign. As the Democratic congressman Jared Moskowitz pointed out on MSNBC, some on the left believe the first assassination – which took place at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on 13 July – was staged and some on the right think the deep state was responsible. Sunday’s event will only exacerbate this mutual suspicion. Elon Musk’s tweet soon after the shooting – “and no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala” alongside a raised-eyebrow emoji – seemed to imply there is some ulterior reason as to why the top Democrats had not been targeted. Expect the latest event to inflame those on the Maga right who think the Democrats pose a greater threat to democracy than their own candidate.
In many ways, the tenor of the reaction will largely depend on Trump and his allies. One long-time adviser to Trump said the former president was “more docile” after the shooting in Butler. Shortly after this latest suspected attempt, Trump was reportedly joking that he didn’t get to finish his round of golf, and he said in a fundraising email: “Nothing will slow me down. I WILL NEVER SURRENDER!”
Political violence has become a defining feature of this campaign.
[See also: America’s breaking point]
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