Attempted shooting could have political fallout

Suspect’s support for Ukraine could play into Trump’s characterization of himself as persecuted

- ALLAN WOODS

Investigators will be scouring every nook of Ryan Routh's too-often overlooked life to find out what allegedly led to him hiding out in the bushes of a golf course with a gun and a GoPro camera, waiting for Donald Trump to hit the sixth hole.

There's a string of criminal charges suggesting a generally troubled past. But things became highly political starting about two-and-a-half years ago, when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Routh's words and actions since then suggest a man sucked inexorably into the meat grinder of geopolitics. The specifics of his mental state may soon become clear, but Routh appears to have had a saviour complex that played out on a global scale.

The first attempt to take Trump's life, during a political rally last July, had little impact on the presidential election race. The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, is dead and no clear motive has emerged to explain the act, which saw one man killed and Trump's ear grazed by a bullet.

This time, the alleged gunman's obsessive focus on marshalling international support for Ukraine in its war against Russia could help illustrate Trump's characterization of himself as a sacrificial figure being persecuted for his positions in the all-important final weeks before the Nov. 5 US presidential vote.

Many around the world were emotionally distressed by the Feb. 24, 2022, decision to send Russian forces into Ukraine. But as he watched the march to war from his far-off home in Hawaii, Routh was driven to act.

A few days after the invasion, he wrote on his now-suspended X account that he would be calling the newly created Ukrainian Foreign Legion to volunteer.