(Ken Silva, Headline USA) After Ryan Routh was arrested last September for allegedly trying to assassinate Donald Trump at his Florida golf course, media outlets quickly discovered that Routh had been charged in 2002 with possessing a “weapon of mass destruction.”
According to local reporting from the time, Routh was pulled over during a traffic stop in December 2002, and an officer saw what looked like a machine gun in his car. Routh fled the officer and barricaded himself inside his business, United Roofing, for several hours before he was finally arrested without incident. For those seemingly egregious crimes, Routh was sentenced to a mere 60 months of supervised probation.
The 2002 arrest raised eyebrows among some observers, but few other details were reported at the time.
But on Monday, the Justice Department filed investigative reports from the Greensboro police about the 2002 incident—revealing that Routh’s crimes were even more brazen than previously known, and that the ATF became involved in the investigation into him. The DOJ filed the reports to convince Judge Aileen Cannon to allow the prosecution to present evidence of Routh’s prior convictions to a jury—ostensibly to demonstrate that Routh knew he was a felon who wasn’t allowed to possess a gun when he tried killing Trump last September.
Routh’s Wild 2002
According to the Greensboro Police Department reports, officers began investigating Routh in early April 2002, after they were called to his business, United Roofing, to respond to threats of violence.
A police report from April 13, 2002, stated that a large crowd of Hispanic men was standing in front of Routh’s business. When officers approached, they were told that one of the men worked for Routh—and that Routh threatened him with a sawed-off shotgun when he asked for his paycheck. The Hispanic employee told police that he was able to wrestle away Routh’s shotgun, but that Routh then “gassed his vehicle and backed out of the driveway”—hitting the Hispanic man with an ajar door in the process.
“The victim’s left forearm and elbow received the worst lacerations,” the Greensboro police report stated. Greensboro police didn’t arrest Routh at the time, but they marked him as a “dangerous person,” and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Routh was arrested 10 days after the incident, on April 23, 2002. His case became even wilder after that.
A day after his arrest, Greensboro police received a tip from a “confidential reliable informant”—likely a jailhouse snitch—that Routh possessed a cache of explosives. According to a Greensboro police report, Routh used a cellphone to call an employee from Guilford County Jail, telling him to remove the materials from his property.
“The [confidential reliable informant] advised an explosive device was being kept at United Roofing … Furthermore, this [informant] advised the device had been picked up by [Routh’s employee].”
Police located Routh’s employee, who showed them the explosives Routh had him retrieve from United Roofing. Polcie observed a “red cylindrical tube with blasting cap and detonation cord,” and called in the local bomb squad, which eventually rendered the device safe. The police report said the device was the equivalent of one stick of dynamite.
🚨NEW: The DOJ has released 2002 Greensboro police reports about Ryan Routh, showing that his crimes were even more brazen than what's been reported — AND THAT THE ATF BECAME INVOLVED IN THE INVESTIGATION INTO HIS ACTIVITIES!
We know Routh was charged with possessing explosives… pic.twitter.com/SDtYnAo5nn— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) April 30, 2025
According to Routh’s employee, that wasn’t the only explosive device he possessed at the time.
“[The employee] stated Mr. Routh had another device that was a different color, he believed green, approximately 10 to 15 days earlier. He stated Mr. Routh was carrying this green device in his jacket, but there were no wires attached at the time,” a Greensboro police report said. “[The employee] stated when he asked Mr. Routh why he was carrying this item, Mr. Routh stated it was the next best thing to a gun.”
Police reports don’t state whether any more explosives were found. Police did go to a Greensboro company that sold the materials. The company’s employees told police that they refused to sell to Routh, but they believed they knew who bought the materials for him.
That’s where the ATF came into the picture. At the end of his report, a Greensboro detective said he contacted a special agent with the ATF’s Greensboro office about the matter.
“Special Agent [REDACTED] stated he would be looking into this matter to determine if federal violations had occurred,” the police report concluded. “Nothing further to report.”
But that wasn’t the end of Routh’s 2002 crime spree. About five months later, while out on bond, he had another run-in with police—this one reported by the Greensboro News & Record on the day it occurred: Dec. 16, 2002.
“Ryan Routh, 36, was arrested without incident at 1 a.m. Monday at United Roofing, 1735 W. Lee St., Greensboro police said,” stated the December 2002 article from the Greensboro News & Record, which went viral after the alleged failed assassin’s arrest last September. “Routh was pulled over about 10 p.m. Sunday during a traffic stop … But he put his hand on a firearm and drove to United Roofing, where he remained barricaded inside.”
A day after Routh’s arrest, a local prosecutor moved to revoke the bond that was set for him when he was indicted earlier that year in April. Superior Court Judge Peter McHugh didn’t revoke the bond, but modified it instead—setting it at $100,000, barring Routh from driving or possessing a weapon, and subjecting him to random warrantless searches.
Two more days later, on Dec. 20, 2002, Routh was finally given the sweetheart deal—60 months supervised probation—that observers question more than two decades later.
Routh would have multiple run-ins with the law over the next 22 years—including several felony charges for possessing stolen goods—but would avoid prison until he was caught allegedly trying to kill Trump. The FBI and DHS received multiple tips about Routh’s crimes between 2019 and 2023, but declined to take any action.
Could the ATF Have Stopped Routh?
The ATF has declined to comment on the matter.
“For now, ATF cannot comment on the case and the ongoing investigation,” ATF public affairs officer Corey Ray told Headline USA on Tuesday. “I’ll keep tabs on our end and follow up with you as things progress.”
Former ATF agent Peter Forcelli, who blew the whistle on the Obama-era Operation Fast & Furious scandal, told Headline USA that the ATF could have taken action against Routh in 2002—but there were likely multiple factors to consider at the time.
“First, even though ATF investigates incidents like this, it doesn’t always mean that the local U.S. Attorney’s Office will take the case. Sometimes they look at the totality of circumstances and decide a better avenue is to leave the case in the hands of state prosecutors (or in some cases they are just too lazy to take the case—can’t say that is the case here),” Forecelli explained.
“Then, also consider that in some cases, the FBI steps in and claims that it falls into their lane. It is very common where there is a thread of evidence that there are terror ties, or the attack is directed at a public official or federal agent. In those cases, ATF is often asked to back off,” Forcelli added.
“Finally, ATF does have to check to see if the explosive device is registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. It’s the NFA registry. Believe it or not, it’s possible for a citizen to own an explosive device, provided they follow the NFA policies, much like registering a silencer, SBR or sawed-off shotgun.”
While the public is left wondering about whether the feds could have taken Routh off the streets sooner, DOJ prosecutors now want a jury to see the full picture of his criminal record.
“Evidence of the 2002 WMD possession does not unfairly prejudice this defendant, who has portrayed himself falsely as a man of peace and non-violence,” prosecutors argued in their Monday filing to Judge Cannon. “Indeed, the Defendant here is charged with, among other things, an attempted assassination. It is hard to imagine how the prior conviction for possession of a WMD could be unduly prejudicial considering the charge at issue: that he attempted to kill another human being.”
The parties are set to meet for a status conference on May 14, when they’ll presumably argue about the issue in front of Judge Cannon. Routh’s trial is set for September.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
