After law enforcement said it was investigating an apparent attempted assassination of former United States President Donald Trump, social media users quickly declared they knew the suspect’s registered voter party affiliation.

“Ryan Wesley Routh, the second Trump shooter. He looks like a MAGA republican but is a registered democrat,” stated a Facebook post.

The phrase “second Trump shooter” alludes to a different man who shot Trump in July.

It is possible that more details will emerge about Routh’s political ideology as the court case against him proceeds, but two days after the incident in West Palm Beach, Florida, a review of public records, Routh’s social posts and news accounts found that although Routh described himself as a Trump supporter-turned-Trump critic, his voter registration history showed no clear sign of consistent support of either party.

He also frequently gave voice to more left-leaning ideology. In 2023, he addressed Iran in his self-published book, writing: “You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me.”

Routh was once a registered Democrat in North Carolina, but more than two decades ago, he switched his party to “unaffiliated”, according to voter records and a North Carolina county election official. He is also an active registered voter in Honolulu, but in Hawaii choosing political party affiliation is not part of the voter registration process. People can join political parties, but that’s between the voter and the party.

Ryan Routh attends a rally demanding China’s leader’s assistance to organise an extraction process for Ukrainian service members from Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol, in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 17, 2022 [File: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]

Besides his changing thoughts on Trump, Routh also expressed inconsistent views about other candidates and political issues, at times supporting Republican or Democratic candidates.

The Daily Mail quoted Routh’s son, Oran Routh, as saying that he had had a falling out with his father. But Oran Routh described his father as someone who hates Trump as he and “every reasonable person does”.

‘Weapon of mass death and destruction’

Ryan Routh appeared in US District Court in West Palm Beach on Monday and was charged with possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

The affidavit in support of the criminal complaint stated that, on Sunday, a Secret Service agent assigned to Trump’s security detail at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach saw a rifle poking through the tree line. An agent fired in the direction of the rifle. Routh fled, and agents found a loaded SKS-style 7.62 x 39 calibre rifle with a scope.

A witness described the vehicle to law enforcement and the Martin County sheriff’s office stopped Routh the same afternoon.

The court document also says that Routh has a felony record. Routh was convicted in 2002 in Greensboro, North Carolina, of possession of a “weapon of mass death and destruction” following what the Greensboro News and Record reported was a three-hour armed standoff with local police. He was accused of wielding an automatic machine gun and barricading himself at a roofing company where he had worked.

In 2010, he was convicted of multiple counts of possession of stolen goods. Routh was arrested dozens of times over several years, the newspaper found.

The federal public defender’s office declined to comment.

The FBI said in a statement earlier this Sunday that it is “investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination” against Trump.

Unaffiliated voter in North Carolina

Charlie Collicutt, elections director for Guilford County in North Carolina, told PolitiFact that a person with Routh’s name registered in 1988 as a Democrat and changed to unaffiliated in 2002.

“He’s been unaffiliated since then,” Collicutt said.

Routh, who is listed as an “active voter” in North Carolina, lost his voter registration in 2002 following a felony conviction. When his rights were restored, he reregistered in 2005, Collicutt said. Then the county removed him from its voter rolls again in 2010 following another felony conviction.

“When his rights were restored after that, he re-registered in 2012, and that is the current registration for him,” Collicutt said.

In North Carolina, unaffiliated voters may choose any one political party’s ballot or a nonpartisan ballot (if available) in a primary election. In a general election, voters may vote for the candidate of their choice, regardless of party.

The website for the North Carolina State Board of Elections shows that Routh voted in the March Democratic primary. He also voted in the 2012 general election, municipal elections in 2009 and the general election in 2008.

Routh is listed as an “active” registered voter in Honolulu, too, according to Honolulu City and County Elections Administrator Rex Quidilla.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that Routh has lived in Kaaawa and worked in Hawaii since 2018. Based on the Hawaii State Constitution, voters’ political party affiliation is not part of their voter registration.

The only other information that Quidilla said he was legally allowed to provide was Routh’s precinct number.

If voters wish to enroll with a political party, they do so through the individual party, which is not managed by the state of Hawaii. A person is not required to have a declared political party affiliation in order to vote in the state’s primary or general elections, but may be required to participate in party-run presidential primaries, according to the state Office of Elections.

Tamara McKay, state chair of the Hawaii Republican Party, said the party had no documentation showing Routh had ever joined their party. The state’s Democratic Party was contacted, but did not respond to a request for comment.

The Federal Election Commission website shows that a man named Ryan Routh in Kaaawa in 2019 and 2020 made a total 19 donations – ranging from $1 to $25 for a total of about $140 – to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates. Some of the donations were earmarked for Democratic presidential primary candidates including Tulsi Gabbard, Andrew Yang, Elizabeth Warren, Beto O’Rourke and Tom Steyer.

The Associated Press published on Sunday a photo with a caption saying it showed Routh’s house in Kaaawa, Hawaii. The picture included a truck with a Biden-Harris bumper sticker parked in the driveway, though it wasn’t clear whether the truck was his.

According to news reports, Routh said in court that he owns two trucks in Hawaii and helps support a son.

He is also reported to have written on social media that he voted for Trump in 2016.

In his 2023 book titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War”, Routh criticised Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Iran nuclear deal. He wrote that he previously supported Trump and was partly to blame for Trump’s presidency, describing his earlier support for Trump as a “terrible mistake”.

In the book, which some retailers withdrew following the shooting, Routh wrote: “Iran I apologize. You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal.”

Political leanings

PolitiFact reviewed Routh’s X account before the platform suspended it on Sunday night.

Days after a Pennsylvania gunman shot at Trump, killing rally attendee Corey Comperatore and injuring two others besides the political candidate, Routh wrote two separate posts addressing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He asked them to visit the injured and attend Comperatore’s funeral.

“Trump will never do anything for them….show the world what compassion and humanity is all about,” he wrote in the July 17 post addressed to Harris.

On April 22, he wrote on X in support of Biden’s then-candidacy, repeating one of Biden’s stump speech remarks about the stakes of the 2024 election: “Democracy is on the ballot and we cannot lose. We cannot afford to fail. The world is counting on us to show the way.”

But Routh also wrote in support of Republican presidential primary candidates Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, addressing each of them on January 9 with a plea to team up for a White House bid. “Join forces with Nikki Hailey now as VP to make a winning team..please,” he wrote to Ramaswamy, misspelling Haley’s name.

The majority of Routh’s posts concerned his support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. His posts and media interviews show he visited Ukraine in 2022 and espoused a fringe idea about drafting Afghan soldiers to help Ukraine, as well as voicing support for the shipment of US weapons.

Nevertheless, Routh wrote in support of Ramaswamy, who opposed continuous aid to Ukraine, when he suspended his campaign in January, a sign of Routh’s inconsistent political views.

Routh wrote: “You cannot quit. Why. You must stay on the ballot to the end. You must fight.”

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird and Staff Writer Jeff Cercone contributed to this report.