Trump shooter was Republican gone rogue who featured in Ukrainian neo-Nazi promo video

On Sunday 15 September, US police arrested a gunman – Ryan Routh – at a Florida golf course in an apparent assassination attempt on US presidential election candidate Donald Trump. This is only two months after he survived a shooting in Pennsylvania:

Trump assassination attempt update: details of suspected shooter emerge

Donald Trump survived “what appears to be an assassination attempt” after shots were fired at one of his golf courses in Florida, the FBI said.

Follow the latest updates ⬇️ https://t.co/XWapeLiAii

— The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) September 16, 2024

Ryan Routh: Trump supporter gone rogue

The suspected shooter is Ryan Routh, a former Trump supporter who voted for him in 2016. Routh felt Trump had let him down and decided to take matters into his own hands. It is becoming clearer that the people shooting Trump – repeatedly it seems – are the far right lunatics he is creating.

Currently, there are varying reports across the press and social media about Routh’s political leanings. Some have suggested he isn’t a Harris supporter, but a Trump supporter gone rogue:

Not a Democrat
Not a Drag Queen
Not an Immigrant
Today’s shooter was a full on Maga Republican finally disillusioned by Trump with a history of mental illness and illegal gun crimes.
Karma has come for Trump by the people he himself created.

— Anarie Whit (@anarie_whit) September 16, 2024

You’re upset about another shooter “targeting” Trump when he’s in the party that doesn’t even believe in gun control?? It’s ironic how ignorance comes back to bite the ignorant… https://t.co/3yW37TbWBc

— Anna Horford (@AnnaHorford) September 16, 2024

However, a recent report from Al Jazeera noted:

In many recent posts, he has expressed support for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

What we do know is that Ryan Routh did vote for Trump in 2016. However, what political brand of genocide-supporting politicians he backs is largely irrelevant. The bigger point is that Routh appears to have far-right fascist leanings.

Of course, there is some irony in that Trump’s vitriolic bigotry may have helped radicalise him. So too the fact that he supported a pro-guns president and political party.

Neo-Nazi ties

In 2022, Ryan Routh appeared in a propaganda video for AZOV – a far-right Ukrainian regiment which has been accused of neo-Nazi ties. Since Russia’s invasion, the regiment has been absorbed into the national army. They appear to have played a key role in fighting Russian forces:

BREAKING: Trump shooter appeared in a propaganda video for AZOV in May 2022 pic.twitter.com/jwl5t7BI4s

— Chief Trumpster (@ChiefTrumpster) September 16, 2024

AZOV is a far right, volunteer infantry military unit. There are approximately 900 members – all of which are ultra-nationalist and accused of holding neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideology.

In 2015, Andriy Diachenko, AZOV spokesperson, said that 10 to 20 percent of Azov’s recruits were Nazis. The unit has since denied it follows Nazi ideology – however, Nazi symbols such as the swastika are all over the uniforms and bodies of AZOV members.

According to Al Jazeera, in 2018 AZOV rolled out a street patrol unit to “restore” order in Kyiv. However, the unit carried out attacks against both the Roma and LGBTQ+ communities.

Trump shooters: two sides of the same coin

Journalist Kit Klarenberg also pointed out that Ryan Routh had previously talked to the New York Times about recruiting former Afghan soldiers to Ukraine:

Moreover, Klarenberg raised Routh’s potential links with the CIA on this. Notably, previous investigative reports have linked the AZOZ battalion with the US intelligence agency.

Trump’s first shooter featured in a video for a corporation that’s basically the epitome of capitalism – and massively invests in morally bankrupt industries, such as the arms trade and fossil fuels:

Two people attempted to end a U.S. president. First attempt was a man who was in a Blackrock commercial. Second attempt was a man featured in an Azov Battalion promotional video. Do you see a pattern yet? pic.twitter.com/4QEKudrGlf https://t.co/TyepcgyDQZ

— Abwoon (@abwoonpodcast) September 16, 2024

So Crooks was in a black rock video and this newest dirt bag was in a Azov propaganda video?! 🤔🤔 https://t.co/kpbfGHGHVs

— Aleshia (@aleshia88) September 16, 2024

The other is a far-right neo-Nazi lunatic happy to pose with a neo-Nazi military regiment in Ukraine. Both are two sides of the Republican’s corporate fascist coin.

Of course, an assassination attempt is no laughing matter. However, now the corporate media will be awash with Trump’s silly little sob stories, glorifying the gobshite citrus-coloured felon for what will again feel like – and genuinely be – far too much column space.

In reality, Trump poses a much bigger risk to marginalised communities in the US and across the world than any shooter does to him. But we won’t hear about that – because he’s an (orange-tan stained) powerful, rich white man, and the people his presidency will harm are the same people the corporate press has long sidelined right along with him.

Feature image via Sky News/YouTube