Last Wednesday marked the 23th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. As I do almost every year around that date, I decided to see if any new information has come out, whether via documentation or video. I am not the only one who has developed this habit, as hundreds of thousands of others do the same thing around that time of year, every year.
A lot of younger people asked me my simplified take on those attacks, as they have not seen me discuss it. I replied to them with the following:
9/11 was a classic case of “blowback”, whereby a group of useful assets with track record of doing “good work” decided to hit their patron for their own purposes. Many intelligence agencies had already warned the Americans that something was coming, and several were tracking the hijackers as they moved towards their action. Both the FBI and the CIA knew that something was about to happen. How much did each know? I am not certain.
This will disappoint those who take a much more conspiratorial approach to the events of that day, but this is the conclusion that I have arrived at after years and years of research and thinking (while keeping an open mind).
and I were discussing what many others have been suggesting since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine two and a half years ago: with Ukraine certain to come out of this war on the losing end, will we see blowback against the West by factions of fighters on the Ukrainian side? This has been a relatively common concern of some following this conflict, with many on the far left of the aisle being the most vocal about it. In my opinion, it is a valid concern. If a narrative beings to form about Ukraine being “stabbed in the back”, it is not too far from there to retaliatory actions against those who they perceive as having “betrayed” them.
Lo and behold, another person decided to take a shot at former US President Donald Trump this past weekend, and this individual has been present in Ukraine, agitating for stronger western support in its fight against the Russians.
According to anti-Trump media outlet MSNBC, Ryan Wesley Routh camped out for 12 hours in wait at the golf course where Trump was scheduled to play this past Sunday.
According to Axios, Routh had an “AK-47 style rifle” to do the job, although the Secret Service managed to find him before the ex-President came into his line of sight.
Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspected gunman involved in an apparent assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida on Sunday, was charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction more than 20 years ago.
“I figured he was either dead or in prison by now,” Tracy Fulk, the charging officer in the case, tells WIRED. “I had no clue that he had moved on and was continuing his escapades.”
According to court records from the Guilford District Court in North Carolina obtained by WIRED, Routh was arrested by the Greensboro Police Department on December 16, 2002.
The wording seems incredible, but it’s less spectacular than it seems:
Routh was charged with possession of a fully automatic machine gun, referred to in court filings as a weapon of mass destruction. He was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon, as well as driving without a valid license and resisting, delaying, and obstructing law enforcement, according to Greensboro News and Record.
While the disposition of the case isn’t entirely clear, Routh did plead guilty to carrying a concealed gun.
From the Axios link above:
Routh was previously convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010 and therefore was prohibited from possessing a firearm, Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said.
Routh was also the subject of a 2019 FBI investigation based on a tip that he was allegedly in possession of a firearm as a felon. The bureau interviewed the alleged complainant, who did not verify giving the initial information, and the case was closed.
How did a convicted felon get such a weapon? Also note that he has been on the FBI’s radar since 2019.
Alarm bells began to go off when people on social media began to dig into his now-disappeared posts, noting his presence in Ukraine in 2023. He was even interviewed by the New York Times while there (from the Wired link above):
In 2023, Routh told The New York Times that he traveled to Ukraine after the Russian invasion to aid Ukraine and support the war effort. He said he planned to recruit Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban to fight for Ukraine.
I crawled through his posts on Twitter/X while they were still available, and it displayed a constant stream of rambling that was very inconsistent in political terms, with the noted exception of his insistence on defeating Russia and protecting Taiwan. He claimed to have supported Trump in 2016, turning on him by the end of Trump’s term in office. He also showed support for Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek, and Haley. At the same time, he donated to Dem fundraiser ActBlue, and has said that defeating Trump was necessary to “defend democracy”. In short, his postings were all over the map.
What was also evident from his social media ramblings was that he has a “saviour complex”, complete with all the self-aggrandization and delusion that comes with it. Mainstream media is trying to hammer this point home, and judging by his social media presence, I have to take their side. He does come across as a fantasist:
The former construction worker from Greensboro, North Carolina, has presented himself since 2022 as a recruiter for the International Legion Defense of Ukraine, a unit of Ukraine's Ground Forces.
The claim was dismissed on Monday by the organization itself, while Evelyn Aschenbrenner, a U.S. citizen from Detroit, Michigan, who worked with the team for two years beginning in March 2022—first in administration, and then as a recruiter—branded Routh as "delusional" and a "liar" over his claims.
In a phone interview with Newsweek from Kyiv, Aschenbrenner, who left the International Legion in mid-June, shared a slew of messages they received from Routh between March 2022 and June this year via messaging apps Signal and WhatsApp.
Routh sent details of potential recruits to Aschenbrenner, including a list of some 6,000 Afghani citizens. He would then become "hostile" and "manipulative" when told to refrain from doing so, Aschenbrenner said.
As seen above, Routh was present in Ukraine, and was interviewed by many western outlets, including the New York Times.
Logic here dictates that he was repeatedly rebuffed while in Ukraine, most likely running out of money, forcing him to return home.
Yes, the media will try to distance him from US efforts in Ukraine and from anything to do with US intelligence. They are most likely correct this time.
On the other hand, Routh’s psychological profile fits that of a patsy, one with an inflated sense of self-importance combined with a saviour complex. He is eerily reminiscent of this fellow pictured in the famous black and white photo from New Orleans in 1963:
For the sake of prudence, I will reserve judgment until we learn as much as we can about this assassination attempt, and Mr. Routh as well.
What I will say is this: once again, no one was surprised by this attempt to assassinate Donald J. Trump.
The internet and left-wing publications keep blaming Trump and his "violent' political rhetoric and his constant changing plans. Blowback indeed, but all his doing.
Gotta say I laughed at Elon's post questioning why no one is trying to kill Biden or Kamala. When progressives say death to Trump, you cannot take it literally. When a right-winder does it, it's a call to action and an action of violence. I cannot stand these hypocrites.
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Let's hear what you guys have to say. It's still early days in this affair.
The internet and left-wing publications keep blaming Trump and his "violent' political rhetoric and his constant changing plans. Blowback indeed, but all his doing.
Gotta say I laughed at Elon's post questioning why no one is trying to kill Biden or Kamala. When progressives say death to Trump, you cannot take it literally. When a right-winder does it, it's a call to action and an action of violence. I cannot stand these hypocrites.