What did Internet detectives find out? – Deseret News

At around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, the Secret Service shot a man they spotted with a gun several hundred yards from where former President Donald Trump was golfing. They quickly arrested him and publicly identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh about three hours later, according to NewsNation. Then the internet sleuths went to work.

Within about ten minutes, Facebook had deleted Routh's account. But before that, several people had taken screenshots and videos of social media posts purporting to be from Routh. Soon after, they shared them online and urged others to do the same. Others went into detail, sharing information about the accounts Routh followed.

Not long afterward, others called a phone number they claimed belonged to Routh and shared the voice recording, which mentioned a roofing business in Hawaii that Routh allegedly owns and his efforts to recruit people to fight in Ukraine and Taiwan. (Routh had been interviewed by The New York Times about his interest in helping in Ukraine, and he is listed as a contact on a website, still online Monday, that recruits people to help defend Taiwan.)

Others shared his alleged LinkedIn account.

Internet sleuths were helped by the fact that Routh's name was quickly cleared by authorities and that he frequently shares information online. According to the Associated Press, he left “extensive online footprints” and even listed his phone number on his social media accounts.

They were also motivated by a desire to learn as much as possible before the information was sealed. In comparison, there was little information on social media about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who tried to kill Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July. Corey Comperatore died at that rally, and two other men were injured besides Trump. Many Trump supporters are frustrated by how little we know today about that gunman and his motives; a bipartisan investigation in the House of Representatives is underway and could be expanded to include Sunday's incident.

Internet sleuthing is a pastime that is growing in popularity, in part because of the attention given to the Gabby Petito case and the murder of four University of Idaho students. In some cases, internet sleuthing can hamper police investigations and incriminate the wrong person. In fact, the rush to share information about Routh has already led to the spread of misinformation. BlackRock and media fact-checkers say that, contrary to internet reports, Routh did not appear in a BlackRock advertisement.

Routh, 58, was charged Monday with illegal possession of a firearm and possession of a gun with an obliterated serial number. Federal officials say he had been in the woods since 2 a.m. before his gun was spotted by a Secret Service agent and he was shot. The maximum penalty for conviction is 20 years in prison. Additional charges could be filed later, according to The Baltimore Sun.