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Politics & Government

​Gunman Ryan Wesley Routh Insights from CNN-Daily Signal-Patch and X

This post will provide insights from Democrats, Republicans, and media sources that span the left-right spectrum on accused gunman Routh.

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Arrest of accused would-be Trump Gunman Ryan Wesley Routh from Martin County Sheriff Office Body Cam Still for the Patch by L.A. "Tony" Kovach.
Arrest of accused would-be Trump Gunman Ryan Wesley Routh from Martin County Sheriff Office Body Cam Still for the Patch by L.A. "Tony" Kovach. (Arrest of accused would-be Trump Gunman Ryan Wesley Routh from Martin County Sheriff Office Body Cam Still for Patch-L.A. "Tony" Kovach.)

https://youtu.be/rshdWtF7yCwhttps://youtu.be/rshdWtF7yCw

“Ryan Wesley Routh, the 58-year-old man accused of aiming a rifle at Donald Trump in Florida, faces a combined maximum of 20 years in prison,” wrote Amanda Lumpkin in her report for the Patch. Lumpkin provided the linked eight page charging document against Routh as follows. “Cell phone records show Routh camped out in a tree line at the Summit Boulevard golf course for nearly 12 hours before a U.S. Secret Service agent noticed a rifle sticking out of the tree line around 1:30 p.m., the FBI said in eight pages of charging documents, obtained by CNN. The FBI said Routh had been there since about 2 a.m.”

“Routh was arrested nearly an hour later during a traffic stop on Interstate 95 north in Martin County, the FBI said. Authorities alleged the Nissan's tag belonged to a stolen Ford truck.” The balance of Lumpkin’s report is linked here.

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According to CNN.

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Routh tagged Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, in separate posts, encouraging them to visit those injured at the rally.

“You and Biden should visit the injured people in the hospital from the Trump rally and attend the funeral of the murdered fireman. Trump will never do anything for them,” he wrote in a post directed at Harris.

Also to CNN.

In an April post on X tagging President Biden’s presidential account, he wrote that Biden’s campaign should be: “called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA …make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”

In June 2020, Routh appeared to say that he had voted for Trump in 2016, but that he had since withdrawn his support of the former president: “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 and it seems you are getting worse and devolving,” he wrote. “I will be glad when you gone.”

Routh also has ties to North Carolina, where public records show he registered as an “unaffiliated” voter without a party in 2012. He voted in that state’s Democratic primary in March of this year, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Routh has contributed more than $100 to ActBlue, which processes donations for Democrats, federal campaign finance records show.”

The balance of CNN’s report is linked here. CNN is deemed to lean left by media analysts, and the Daily Signal (see below) is deemed to lean right. So, this post includes insights from both the left and right.

Jarrett Stepman, a columnist for the Daily Signal, wrote the following.

For the second time in just over two months, a gunman has attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump.

“The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach, Florida, and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump,” the FBI announced in a statement Sunday afternoon.


“Authorities just acknowledged if President Trump was president, they’d do more to protect him,” wrote House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who was shot and seriously wounded by a gunman in 2017 when practicing with fellow Republicans for the congressional baseball game. “This must change.”

“There have been TWO attempts on Trump’s life,” Scalise added. “Secret Service must up their level of protection of him to their FULL capabilities—including expanding the perimeter.”

While Trump was golfing Sunday at his course in West Palm Beach, authorities said, a man put the muzzle of a rifle through a chain link fence around the next hole. According to Fox News, the man was between 300 and 500 yards from Trump. When he put the gun through the fence, a Secret Service agent or agents opened fire.

According to the New York Post, the man had a GoPro camera hanging on the fence, which likely was intended to be used to record the shooting on video.

…

“Routh, who has a lengthy criminal record from North Carolina, frequently posted about politics and exclusively donated to Democratic candidates and causes dating back to 2019. He also bashed Trump in an April 22 post on X in which he declared, ‘DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose,'” reported the Post.

…

Trump’s vice-presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, wrote “I’m glad President Trump is safe. I spoke to him before the news was public and he was, amazingly, in good spirits.”

Vice President Kamala Harris put out a statement on X.

“I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America,” she wrote.

Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who served under President George W. Bush, wrote that the Secret Service needs to treat Trump as a sitting president and increase his security.

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also called on the Secret Service to massively step up its protection of Trump.

…

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., wrote: “It is inexplicable that this happened again.”

The balance of the content from the Daily Signal is linked here.

Insights from across the spectrum from X.

Posting the items above doesn't mean that I agree or disagree with the content, these are a sampling of what has been said about Ryan Wesley Routh. It is early, just over a day since the former 45th President Donald Trump protective detail engaged the purported would-be gunman. It appears that he has an extensive criminal history and is apparently pro-Biden-Harris, based on his posts and bumper sticker. The fact that past and current law enforcement officials are speculating that there may be others involved with Routh ought to concern millions of Americans who believe that voters should decide who becomes the next president, not some gunman.

Hopefully the Secret Service will increase the perimeter around Trump so that this election is decided by ballots and not bullets. The fact that so many mainstream media outlets have interviewed Routh and/or have had him on camera is a red flag. The PDF of the charges against Routh at this time are linked here. Let’s pray for the safety of all the candidates and those around them. ###

L. A. "Tony" Kovach, multiple award winner in history, including the coveted Lottinville Award from the University of Oklahoma as a freshman. I'm keen on affordable housing, among other issues. We live in Winter Haven FL.

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