I yesterday indicated that there was a second assassination attempt on Donald Trump which failed. The first sniper was 20-year old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed. He apparently had no particular grievance against Trump. Well, this second shooter is 58-year old Ryan Wesley Routh, originally from North Carolina, who relocated to Hawaii in 2018. The front page headline article this morning in the local Star Advertiser was:
- Studied mechanical engineering at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University from 1995 to 1998.
- Was owner of a company, United Roofing.
- Had a variety of criminal convictions in North Caroline dating back to 2002. One was owning a loaded machine gun. That's his photo then.
- Owns property in North Carolina and is registered to vote there.
- Voted for Trump in 2016, but turned over time, and, with several grudges, planned this effort. There must be a lot more of his type in the USA. But Routh carried out his grievance.
- On X in 2020, Routh expressed support for Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and mocked Biden as “sleepy Joe.”
- In 2023, Routh allegedly wrote a manifesto in which he raged about Trump’s role in the January 6 insurrection in 2021, described him as a “fool”, a “buffoon” and an “idiot” in charge of an “undemocratic posse” — and urged Iran to assassinate him.
Earlier this year, Routh tagged Biden in a post on X: “@POTUS Your 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.”
- Was an ardent supporter of Ukraine. In the debate with Kamala Harris, Trump refused to say he supported Ukraine.
- Routh professed to stand for world peace and prosperity, pro-democracy causes, an end to war and “for all citizens to be happy”. But his social media profile paints a picture of a troubled and sometimes manic character haunted by the world’s woes and Trump’s political positions.
- Routh’s son Oran said that he had grown apart from his father and had not even been aware he was in Florida, but credited him as a “loving and caring father and honest, hardworking man”. He said: “I don’t know what’s happened in Florida and I hope things have just been blown out of proportion, because from the little I’ve heard it doesn’t sound like the man I know to do anything crazy, much less violent. He’s a good father and a great man.”
About Routh's Hawaii stay:
- Registered his Camp Box Honolulu company in January 2019 to build small storage structures.
- Lived in Kaaawa on the North Shore of Oahu. His home to right.
- Pledged to help build tiny homes for homeless people. Was quoted by the Star Advertiser in November of 2019:
As a community, if we can all come together and put our resources together, it would be extremely beneficial. All of us are tired of seeing the homeless people all over the island with nowhere to go.
- Said he was particularly inspired to provide housing for the ones that have pets and animals.
- However, HomeAid Hawaii Executive Director Kimo Carvalho cut ties with Routh for lack of diligence and unorthodox procedures. Thought Routh was radical. He wanted to donate, but did not want to collaborate.
- Kathleen Shaffer owns Routh's Kaaawa home, and has shared other addresses with him in the past.
- Also from that Star-Advertiser article:
“That’s crazy, super crazy,” said Routh’s neighbor David Stant after hearing about the incident.
He said Routh was “real mellow, low-key … quiet.”
Neighbor Easto Trinin also expressed surprised at Sunday’s events, saying Routh was a nice guy who even helped with some carpentry at the Trinins’ home.
In short, some people hold gripes, but control them. Routh acts. He went to Ukraine to help them in the war. He shows up at various patriotic events. He tries, and mostly fails because of his attitude. He is fearful of Trump and decided to assassinate him. Most states allow citizens to carry weapons like guns and rifles in public. There are many other troubled individuals in the country. I worry about when next?
How will all that second assassination attempt affect the presidential election?
- Trump will benefit by getting more campaign funds.
- But gun control is an issue that hurts Republicans.
- Democracy was a campaign issue for Joe Biden, and the danger of Trump's dictatorship bent was an issue.
- Harris seems to somewhat downplay that matter by seeking joy and freedom.
TV watching has changed since before the pandemic. A generation ago, CBS, ABC and NBC dominated. No more, for streaming channels like Netflix have taken over. The problem is that you can't afford (money and time) to subscribe to all of the, and there are too many. I pay for Netflix and Prime, but there are many more out there. All that said, here are the Emmy highlights from last night.
Son and father from Schitt's Creek, Dan and Eugene Levy well moderated the 76th Emmy Awards.- The FX production of Shogun, based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell, got 25 nominations and 18 awards, the most ever in Emmy history.
Got 99/91 scores from Rotten Tomatoes. Two more seasons coming- Good thing I recorded all the episodes on FX, for it now can only be seen on Hulu and Disney#.
- This is one of my gripes about the current situation. There is too much to watch, but many of the ones I want are ONLY on channels I can't access.
- Thus, the Emmys are now wanting, in that you never see many of the nominations.
Same thing with The Bear, made for FX, then on to Hulu. Again, though, recorded it on FX. Rotten Tomatoes 96/79. This production got 23 nominations, the most ever for a comedy, and won 11 awards. Two more seasons coming.- Jodie Foster has two Oscars and two Golden Globes, and finally won an Emmy for True Detective.
- Did ABC, CBS and NBC win any Emmys? Yes, but not like before.
Typhoon Bebinca made landfall near Shanghai with 94 MPH winds. Worst storm since 1949. 60,000 emergency responders and firefighters were on hand to lend aid. 10,000 trees were uprooted, four houses damaged and power knocked out of 380 households, with no deaths. Amazing.
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