Fact Check: Was Trump Suspect Ryan Routh In BlackRock Ad?

What appeared to be a second Donald Trump assassination attempt in just over two months has led to a slew of conspiratorial theorizing behind suspect Ryan Routh and his motivations.
Shots were heard at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, where Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, was golfing, according to multiple reports. The former president, who was uninjured, returned to his home at Mar-a-Lago club Palm Beach after the incident.
At a press conference on Monday, Ronald Rowe Jr, acting director of the Secret Service, said Ryan Wesley Routh fled after an agent who spotted him shot in his direction. Rowe said Routh “did not fire or get off any shots at our agent” and never had Trump in his line of sight.
Routh appeared in federal court on Monday morning, charged with possession of a firearm while a former felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Amid the speculation surrounding Routh, social media posts shared on Monday claimed he had appeared in a video for the investment firm BlackRock.
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by user @BGatesIsaPyscho posted on September 16, 2024, viewed 147,100 times said “🚨🇺🇸 Absolutely No Bloody Way
“The latest Trump would be assassin – Ryan Routh ALSO appeared in a Blackrock Commerical just like Thomas Crooks.
“That means BOTH featured in Global Wealth management firm’s Commercial.
“THESE ARENT COINCIDIENCES.
“They love their symbolism.”
The post included a video of what appeared to be a pro-Ukrainian protest featuring what looked like Ryan Routh.
The Facts
CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller reported Sunday afternoon that Routh’s social media accounts have focused on his “self-proclaimed involvement” in the war in Ukraine, including his supposed effort to recruit soldiers to fight in the conflict. Routh also claimed to have fought in Ukraine as it continues to hold off Russia’s invasion.
BlackRock, a repeat subject of conspiratorial theories, recently pledged financial support to Ukraine joining a group of investors committing $15 billion to the country’s reconstruction, as reported by Quartz.
However, BlackRock did not produce the video featuring Routh.
The video was created in 2022, publicizing protesters demanding the safe evacuation of Ukrainian soldiers defending the besieged Avovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol.
The Associated Press photographed Routh at the protest in Kyiv’s Independence Square on April 30, 2022. Other outlets covering the event also photographed Routh.
A Blackrock spokesperson told Newsweek “This is completely false. Ryan Routh has never been an employee of BlackRock nor has he appeared in any BlackRock ads.
“The video circulating on social media has been manipulated to falsely link Routh to BlackRock.”
Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec posted a longer version of the video. Although Posobiec did not make the BlackRock ad claim, he did say the video was “propaganda for Azov battalion” and shared more of the original footage.
The Azov Brigade rose out of the volunteer Azov Battalion, rooted in far-right and ultranationalist ideology. The fighters have been on the front lines fighting pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine since 2014; the battalion’s founders were accused of having neo-Nazi sentiments.
The brigade’s current members have rejected these ties, distancing themselves from the battalion’s reputation since the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022. The brigade is now a part of Ukraine’s National Guard and has been lauded as one of the most effective fighting forces.
It’s not clear who produced the video, but the protest was to demand the safe return of Ukrainian soldiers. While family members of Azov troops flew the battalion’s crest and flags at the protest, one report of the protest said relatives of the 36th Marine Brigade and other units of the Ukrainian army were at the event.
In any case, the claim that Routh appeared in a BlackRock ad is false.
This false claim is almost certainly inspired by Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspect in Trump’s attempted assassination in Pennsylvania on July 13, who did appear briefly in an ad for BlackRock in 2022.
BlackRock confirmed Crooks’ appearance, telling CBS MoneyWatch he was not paid or hired as an actor.
“In 2022, we ran an ad featuring a teacher from Bethel Park High School, in which several unpaid students briefly appeared in the background, including Thomas Matthew Crooks,” BlackRock said in a statement.
“We will make all video footage available to the appropriate authorities, and we have removed the video from circulation out of respect for the victims.”
The Ruling
False.
While it does appear that Ryan Routh is in the video, it is not an ad for BlackRock. It is footage from a protest in April 2022, held in Kyiv’s Independence Square, where the relatives of the Ukrainian military demanded the safe return of their families from besieged Avovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol.
Update 9/17/24, 6:54 a.m. ET: This story was updated with comments from BlackRock, to clarify the source of the central claim, and to include statements from security officials and Ryan Routh’s charges. The headline was also updated.
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FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team