Ryan Routh, suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt, wasn’t in BlackRock ad

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, Sept. 15. This is the second time in two months that the former president’s life has been threatened. 

A Secret Service agent opened fire after seeing a person with a gun near the club where Trump was golfing. The suspect, who was identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, is facing federal gun charges.

After the apparent assassination attempt on Sunday, some people claimed in viral social media posts that Routh appeared in a commercial for a global investment firm called BlackRock.

The posts include video clips and mention that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who is accused of opening fire at Trump’s July 2024 rally, also appeared in a 2022 BlackRock ad, suggesting Routh and Crooks are somehow connected through the investment firm.

“The latest Trump would be assassin - Ryan Routh ALSO appeared in a Blackrock Commerical [sic] just like Thomas Crooks. That means BOTH featured in Global Wealth management firm’s Commercial. THESE ARENT COINCIDIENCES [sic],” one of the viral posts says.

THE QUESTION

Was Ryan Routh in a BlackRock advertisement?

THE SOURCES

• InVid, a video forensics tool
• RevEye, a reverse image search tool 
• Original video posted by @save_mrpl on X on May 1, 2022
• Associated Press photo of Routh at 2022 rally in Ukraine
• BlackRock spokesperson
• Azov Brigade’s Sept. 16 post on X

THE ANSWER

No, Ryan Routh was not in a BlackRock advertisement. 

WHAT WE FOUND

Ryan Routh has not appeared in any advertisements for BlackRock, a spokesperson for the investment firm confirmed to VERIFY. The viral videos circulating on social media show Routh at a 2022 rally in Ukraine.

The claims about Routh appearing in a BlackRock advertisement are “completely false,” according to the company spokesperson. Routh “has never been an employee of BlackRock nor has he appeared in any BlackRock ads,” the spokesperson said. 

Using InVid, a video forensics tool, VERIFY analyzed the keyframes of the viral videos and conducted a reverse image search of the frames. That led us to this video posted by @save_mrpl on X, formerly Twitter, on May 1, 2022. The video is not a BlackRock advertisement. 

“This video is a message to the world from the Mariupol defenders. They are grateful for our support and ask us to keep fighting. ‘Thank you to everyone who supports the Defenders of Mauripol and raises the issue of Mauripol at the international level,’” the X post reads.

Mariupol, a city in Ukraine, was one of the earliest targets of Russia’s invasion that began in February 2022. The city is now occupied by Russia.

Routh is shown at about 1 minute and 49 seconds into the original video posted on X wearing blue outerwear and a scarf with the colors of the American flag tied around his neck. 

RevEye, a reverse image search tool, also led us to an Associated Press photo taken on April 30, 2022, that shows Routh wearing the same outfit during a rally in central Kyiv, Ukraine. The AP said it filmed Routh at a demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square. 

According to the AP, Routh was holding a placard that said: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.”

Other participants held posters drawing attention to Mariupol, which was under siege at the time. That same day, Routh also paid tribute to foreign citizens killed during the war near a makeshift memorial sign reading “Foreigners killed by Putin,” the AP reported. 

It’s unclear who produced the original video, though the account’s bio says, “We call on the Ukrainian authorities and the world leaders to save the AZOV BRIGADE.”

The Azov Brigade is a Ukrainian military unit that has faced controversy over its origins as a volunteer battalion that drew fighters from far-right circles and criticism for some of its tactics. 

The U.S. had banned the regiment from using American weapons, citing the neo-Nazi ideology of some of its founders. In June 2024, the U.S. lifted that ban. 

The current members of the Azov Brigade, which has been absorbed into Ukraine’s National Guard as the 12th Special Forces Brigade, reject accusations of extremism and any ties with far-right movements. But the Kremlin has seized on the regiment’s origins in its efforts to cast Russia’s invasion as a battle against Nazi influence in Ukraine.

In a post on Sept. 16, the Azov Brigade’s official X account acknowledged the video of Routh at the 2022 rally and said he has “no connection” to Azov.

“A video from 2022 of a rally in support of the Mariupol garrison in Kyiv, attended by the suspected Donald Trump assassination attempt, Ryan Wesley Routh, is circulating on social media. We would like to officially state that Ryan Wesley Routh has no connection to Azov and has never had any connection to Azov,” the post reads. “The peaceful demonstration he attended was open and anyone could join it. He was caught on the video filmed by the protesters by accident.”

“We believe that the spread of the narrative about the possible connection between Azov and Ryan Wesley Routh is playing along with Russian propaganda and discredits the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine and the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine in general,” the post continues. 

BlackRock tied to previous conspiracy theories

This isn’t the first time BlackRock has been the subject of conspiracy theories online. 

After the first assassination attempt against Trump in July 2024, some people falsely claimed that the suspected shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, worked for BlackRock. 

Crooks did appear in an advertisement for BlackRock that was produced in 2022, CBS News reported. The ad was filmed at Bethel Park High School, where Crooks was a student at the time. 

Though Crooks is one of the students featured in the ad, he was not paid nor was he hired as an actor for the company, according to CBS News. 

"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 to CBS MoneyWatch, "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."

BlackRock was also the subject of false claims about its alleged involvement in a settled defamation lawsuit between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox Corporation. 

Fox News agreed in April 2023 to pay Dominion nearly $800 million to avert a trial in the voting machine company’s lawsuit that would have exposed how the network promoted lies about the 2020 presidential election.

Viral social media posts shared that same month falsely claimed BlackRock owned stakes in both Dominion and Fox News, suggesting the investment firm was somehow involved in Fox News’ ousting of longtime host Tucker Carlson. 

BlackRock does own non-voting shares in Fox Corporation, but it does not have any in Dominion Voting Systems, the investment firm and the voting machine company confirmed. The posts misrepresented shares that BlackRock owned in an unrelated energy company that is also named Dominion, the AP reported. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.