Southeast
Trump assassination plot exposes Ryan Routh's bomb bust, barricade with illegal gun in professional demise
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Ryan Routh, the man named as a suspect in what authorities believe was an assassination attempt against former President Trump on Sunday, deteriorated from a successful roofer to a man who thought the IRS was sending the cops after him, according to a retired officer who had more than 100 interactions with Routh.
Routh’s arrest record in Guilford County, North Carolina, spans between the 1980s and 2010, and his charges range from writing multiple bad checks to felony firearm possession, possession of a stolen vehicle and multiple counts of possession of a weapon of mass destruction in 2002 — specifically, a “binary explosive with a 10-in[ch] detonation cord and a blasting cap.”
“Routh’s attitude was that he was above everybody. He could do what he wanted,” Eric Rasecke, a retired Greensboro Police Department officer and Air Force veteran, told Fox News Digital. “It didn’t matter. He was pretty entitled. … He ran his mouth quite a bit about how he could get off and how he owned a successful business and nobody could do anything to him and he knew everybody in Greensboro.”
The first time Rasecke met Routh was in the late 1990s when the now-retired officer pulled him over for a traffic violation.
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Ryan Routh barricaded himself inside his roofing business in Greensboro, N.C., in 2002. (Fox News Digital)
“You’d see him all the time riding his company trucks,” Rasecke said. He saw Routh at least once a day because the suspect lived and worked in Rasecke’s patrol zone.
“He would drive right by you and smile.… We got on a first-name basis.”
“It would be not uncommon to have him cited many times a week. He was brazen about it,” Rascecke said of Routh’s blatant and repeated use of a vehicle with an expired license and registration. “He would never try to hide it.”
Over the years, it was clear to Rasecke, however, that Routh was using drugs over the years and his physical appearance showed it as he lost weight and became more “paranoid.”
RYAN ROUTH, ARMED MAN ARRESTED AT TRUMP GOLF COURSE, POSTED PROLIFICALLY ABOUT TRUMP, POLITICS
Ryan Routh’s most recent mugshot from 2010. (Guilford County Sheriff’s Office)
“As years went by, you could see a change in him,” Rasecke said, noting later charges against Routh that escalated from minor traffic violations to a hit-and-run, possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of stolen goods, and eventually the weapon of mass destruction charges. In many cases involving multiple charges against Routh for a single incident, his defenders would get the court to dismiss or drop charges to alleviate the docket, Rasecke said, particularly because he was not a “particularly dangerous person,” and his crimes never resulted in bodily injury.
“He liked to run his mouth and play the victim.”
In December 2002, Routh barricaded himself inside his business — then located on Lee Street — with a semi-automatic rifle after being pulled over. The incident lasted approximately three hours before Routh surrendered and was apprehended without incident, The Greensboro News & Record reported at the time.
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“Negotiators came in. Special teams were activated, and after a couple hours of negotiations, he surrendered himself,” Rasceke recalled of the barricade incident.
Remnants of Routh’s roofing company, called United Roofing in Greensboro, still remain at what appears to have been Routh’s latest location for the company on Husbands Street, even though Routh moved to Hawaii years ago, according to neighbors in the area. (Fox News Digital)
“Because of his flagrant, above-the-law mentality, the fact that he felt like he could do anything, the city was after him because of his problems, the police were always picking on him, the drugs could warp…his mind, the issue of him barricading himself inside the business…should have put a red flag on his name,” the retired officer explained.
“the issue of him barricading himself inside the business… should have put a red flag on his name…”
Remnants of Routh’s roofing company called United Roofing in Greensboro still remain in a vacant lot on Husbands Street, though his actual business location where he barricaded himself two decades ago was located on what was formerly called Lee Street. Routh moved to Hawaii years ago, according to those who knew him.
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A general view of a home that was once allegedly occupied by Ryan Routh in Greensboro, North Carolina on Monday, September 16, 2024. Routh was arrested in West Palm Beach after allegedly attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Sunday. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
Timothy Pruitt, branch manager of the local Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc., said he had numerous interactions with Routh in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when Routh’s business was taking off.
“I guarantee he could have been a millionaire by now if he hadn’t gone off the rails.”
Routh had “90 people working for him at one time,” Pruitt said.
Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Routh was seen being taken into custody Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in bodycam footage released Monday. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office )
Their interactions were normal. Pruitt described Routh as a “nice” guy when he knew the former Greensboro resident. Pruitt eventually learned from Routh’s daughter that Routh had apparently moved from Greensboro to Arizona, and then possibly Alaska, before his most recent home state of Hawaii.
About seven or eight months ago, Pruitt said, he looked Routh up on Facebook and saw that he had been posting frequently about politics and the Russia-Ukraine war. He thought about messaging Routh at the time but decided against it. Then, on Sunday, when Pruitt saw Routh’s photo on the television in connection with a suspected assassination attempt against Trump, he couldn’t believe it.
“I said, ‘Oh my goodness. That’s crazy,’” Pruitt recalled.
FBI investigators carry a box of evidence from the perimeter of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Monday, September 16, 2024. Ryan Routh was arrested earlier this week after allegedly attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump while hiding in the bushes along the golf course. (Mega for Fox News Digital)
Daniel Redford, president of the Charlotte Fraternal Order of Police, told Fox News Digital that Routh is “one of many people that probably have similar criminal records,” but the thing that concerns him most is the fact that Routh had access to firearms despite being a repeat convicted felon.
“If he’s a convicted felon, how did he have a gun in the first place?”
“Obviously, from law enforcement, when someone has an extensive record…those are red flags just from a safety aspect of things,” Redford said. “But there are a lot of people with violent pasts who have changed their ways. You just have to be cautious.”
RYAN ROUTH, ARMED MAN ARRESTED AT TRUMP GOLF COURSE, POSTED PROLIFICALLY ABOUT TRUMP, POLITICS
Redford believes “punishments need to be stronger for felons that are in possession of a weapon.”
He added that it’s not totally surprising to see a copycat assassination suspect after the first attempt on the former president’s life at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
“We’re in such a volatile political moment right now. … It’s just, and I don’t mean to be insensitive…bringing all the crazies out,” Redfrod said. “Both sides are guilty of inciting some type of violence and aggression. People doing it for the thrill, for the attention — I don’t understand what goes through people’s minds.”
Criminal defense attorney Brett Rosen similarly told Fox News Digital that he does not “think that Routh’s lengthy criminal record should have been a red flag for law enforcement.”
“There’s over 300 million people living in the U.S., and there’s no indication or any information that in the past or recent past of him threatening to harm President Trump,” Rosen said in a statement. “The real red flag here, if true, is that Routh was at the golf course location for approximately 12 hours. It’s very difficult to believe that the Secret Service or any law enforcement did a precursory sweep of the course before he played. If they had done one, they most likely would’ve discovered Routh well before at this location that the Secret Service agent opened fire on him.”
Rosen added that he would not be surprised if authorities charge Routh with attempted murder in the near future if they have enough evidence to do so.
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The Virginia State Senate and its Democratic majority may have voted to nearly triple their pay if a provision inserted into their final budget survives the House reconciliation process and reaches Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk.
The development comes as Spanberger has centered her campaign on “affordability,” with Richmond Democrats echoing that they are working to improve their constituents’ personal finances.
Virginia’s legislature itself was founded as a part-time, gentleman’s chamber, where lawmakers would return to their day jobs when Richmond wasn’t holding session.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs executive orders. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Proponents of raising the current 1988-established salary of $18,000 for senators and $17,640 for delegates say the structure restricts who can afford to serve as a lawmaker today. Lawmakers also qualify for a $237 per diem, mileage reimbursements, and coverage of office, meeting and other expenses.
Senators’ new salary would be $50,000.
Republicans were quick to criticize the final budget, with the Virginia Senate Minority Caucus saying in a statement that “teachers got a 3% raise, but Democrats give themselves 300%.” The actual increase would be closer to 178%, though one could say the new salary would be 300% of the original.
“The affordability hoax just gets worse and worse,” the caucus said, adding that the chamber’s majority killed a repeal of the car tax — something GOP gubernatorial nominee Winsome Sears ran on — while increasing the state budget by $1 billion overall.
Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, told WVTF it is the “wrong time” to address lawmaker pay.
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“It’s supposed to be affordability for working families across Virginia, not members of the General Assembly,” he said.
Virginia’s legislature — the oldest continuous legislative body in the New World — has been making laws since its inception as the House of Burgesses in Colonial Williamsburg, where Spanberger gave the Democratic Party’s State of the Union response.
In her speech, she claimed President Donald Trump is the one “enriching himself, his family and his friends” and said Republicans are the ones “making your life more expensive.”
“I traveled to every corner of Virginia, and I heard the same pressing concern everywhere: costs are too high. In housing, healthcare, energy, and childcare,” she said.
“Americans deserve to know that their leaders are focused on addressing the problems that keep them up at night.”
“Democrats across the country are laser-focused on affordability — in our nation’s capital and in state capitals and communities across America,” Spanberger said Tuesday.
The pay raise could be moot if the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates does not amend its own budget proposal to include the provision.
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The House’s budget includes $137 million for expanded childcare access, a minimum wage increase to $13.75 in 2027 and $15 in 2029, and a $20 million appropriation for state employees’ and home health care workers’ collective bargaining, according to Washington’s ABC affiliate.
Fox News Digital reached out to the governor, as well as the House and Senate minority leaders, for further comment.
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Southeast
Virginia murder suspect in bus stop stabbing had lengthy criminal history, multiple dropped charges
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A Virginia murder suspect accused of fatally stabbing a woman at a bus stop earlier this week has a lengthy criminal history filled with multiple arrests, but was let back onto the streets nearly every time.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is charged with the Monday night killing of Stephanie Minter, 41, of Fredericksburg, at a bus stop shelter, the Fairfax County Police Department said.
Minter was found by officers with stab wounds to her upper body and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop. (Fairfax County Police Department; provided)
Jalloh, 32, who was seen on surveillance cameras exiting the bus with Minter at Richmond Highway and Arlington Drive, was arrested the next day.
He was arrested at a liquor store after an employee called 911. At the time, officers arrested him for allegedly shoplifting. Investigators linked him to the murder a day later.
Authorities were still trying to determine a motive for the killing and what led to the deadly stabbing.
A search of online court records revealed Jalloh has more than a dozen arrests in northern Virginia, including on charges of petty larceny and malicious wounding.
In most of the cases, prosecutors dropped the charges, FOX D.C. reported.
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Abdul Jalloh seen on a bus in Virginia. (Fairfax County Police Department)
Laura Birnbaum, the chief of staff for Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, said Jalloh was known to the district attorney’s office and was “acutely aware of the risk he posed to the community.”
“That is why we convicted the defendant of a 2023 malicious wounding charge, and have since made every effort to hold him accountable each subsequent time that he has come in contact with the criminal justice system, including asking him to be held in custody whenever possible,” Birnbaum said.
“Unfortunately, the defendant in this case also had a history of selecting victims with no fixed address – some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” she added. “In multiple cases, we were unable to move forward with prosecution because victims could not be located or contacted.”
Stephanie Minter, 41, was killed on Monday after getting off of a bus in Virginia. (Provided)
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An obituary for Minter described her as a “happy, jolly” person.
“A beam of light in dark places,” the obituary states.
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Southeast
Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’
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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is calling on Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger to ensure local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration officials by handing over an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record who allegedly killed a woman earlier this week at a Virginia bus stop.
Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, arrested an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone earlier this week on charges of second-degree murder after he allegedly fatally stabbed a woman, Stephanie Minter, 41, who was found dead at a local bus stop with several wounds to the upper body.
The alleged suspect, Abdul Jalloh, 32, also has a criminal history of more than 30 arrests, according to DHS, including for rape, malicious wounding, assault, identity theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, assault and pick-pocketing.
The request from the Trump administration comes after the newly elected Democratic governor of Virginia signed an executive order to end cooperation between federal immigration officials and state and local law enforcement, a move several Democratic Party governors have taken recently amid President Donald Trump’s move to increase deportation operations around the country.
The DHS request asking Virginia officials to cooperate with ICE also comes after an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered someone just days after being released from jail for a separate crime in December.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (Department of Homeland Security/Getty Images)
“We are calling on Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Virginia’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this murderer and violent career criminal from their jail without notifying ICE,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.
“This illegal alien’s murder of an innocent, beautiful American woman came less than 24 hours before Governor Spanberger’s demonization of ICE law enforcement. This heinous criminal is a perfect example of why we need cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions and the importance of third country removals for the safety of the American people.”
Spanberger’s representatives did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Jalloh entered the United States illegally in 2012, according to DHS, and immigration officials lodged an immigration detainer against him in 2020, whereupon he was granted a final order of removal by a judge who said he could be removed to any country other than Sierra Leone.
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Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis Jan. 24, 2026. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
DHS indicated that ICE cooperation to ensure Jalloh’s deportation is evident after a case Fox News covered in December when a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, Marvin Morales-Ortez, 23, allegedly killed a man just a day after Fairfax County jail officials let him go.
The immigrant from El Salvador had been in custody on charges of malicious wounding and brandishing a gun, but police released him after the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, led by George Soros-backed prosecutor Steve Descano, dropped the charges.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Fairfax County Sheriff’s office to inquire about why the man had not been handed over to ICE.
The sheriff’s office said, “ICE was aware of Morales-Ortez’s incarceration and elected not to seek a judicial warrant to ensure he remained in custody.
Marvin Morales-Ortez, who is living in the country illegally, was released from Fairfax County custody and then allegedly committed a murder the next day. (Fairfax County Police Department/Getty Images)
“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state and federal laws when determining whether a person is subject to release from the ADC,” the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital at the time. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is automatically notified any time a person is booked into the ADC.”
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The same sheriff’s office did not get back to Fox News Digital’s media inquiry for this story on DHS urging officials to cooperate with federal officials.
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