In the summer of 2024, two men attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump. Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old Hawaiian resident with a history of legal troubles, was arrested for planning the assassination. He had expressed shifting political views and frustrations online, at one point even urging Iran to kill Trump. Routh had previously supported Republicans but shifted towards Democrats in recent years, making 19 donations through ActBlue totaling $140. He traveled to Ukraine multiple times and claimed to have recruited volunteers for Ukraine’s International Legion, but was called a “liar” by a former volunteer.
Thomas Matthews Crooks, a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man, was killed by Secret Service snipers after firing shots at Trump at a rally in Butler. He had a less cohesive political background and minimal social media activity. Crooks was a registered Republican but donated to ActBlue once on the day of President Biden’s inauguration. Investigators found rudimentary explosive devices, a bulletproof vest, magazines, and a drone in his car. Despite his actions, his exact motives remain unclear, and the FBI considers the shooting a failed assassination attempt with no evidence of foreign involvement or a wider conspiracy.
Both Routh and Crooks had donated to ActBlue, a Democratic-aligned fundraising organization that has raised more than $15 billion for progressive causes and politicians since its formation in 2004. Routh was previously a registered Democrat, but his political views shifted over the years. In contrast, Crooks had a mixture of ideologies and limited online activity, complicating the search for motives in his case. The FBI noted that Crooks searched for information about Trump and Biden’s events and may have seen the Pennsylvania rally as a “target of opportunity” rather than a politically motivated attack.
Routh’s erratic behavior included expressing support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia and calling Trump a “fool” and a “buffoon.” He had given media interviews discussing his activities in Ukraine and had been involved in building housing for the homeless in Hawaii. Despite his background, law enforcement officials believe that he acted alone in the attempted assassination of Trump. On the other hand, Crooks’ motives for the attack remain unclear, though investigators found evidence that he had purchased ammunition and conducted online searches related to political figures in the days leading up to the shooting.
The two men had different backgrounds, ages, and motivations for attempting to assassinate Trump. Routh had a history of run-ins with the law and had expressed shifting political views, while Crooks had a more limited online footprint and was a registered Republican. Both had made donations to ActBlue, adding another layer of complexity to the investigation into their motives. While law enforcement officials believe that both men acted alone in their attempted assassinations, the exact reasons behind their actions remain unclear, leaving investigators to piece together the puzzle of what led them to target the former president.
