by A woman from North Carolina who once worked for the police says the suspect attempt to assassinate Donald Trump while the former president remembered his former boss on Sunday as he mocked someone for doing “stupid s***”.
Tina Cooper, 58, a former employee at United Roofing, a Greensboro, North Carolina contracting company owned by suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, said The Independent that she hadn’t thought much of Routh since he suddenly fired her two decades ago.
Now, Routh is in custody after allegedly putting the barrel of an AK47-style rifle through the perimeter fence of West Palm Beach’s Trump International Golf Club in what the FBI says appears to be “an attempt to assassinate former President Trump.”
That’s a long way from when Cooper was hired to help Routh, a father of three, with paperwork around his roofing company’s office. Routh, 58, who his driving license was revoked in 2002he gave Cooper one car to use to pick him up in the morning and drive him around town, she said.
In December 2002, Routh’s criminal actions attracted the attention of the local papers.
“He had a disagreement here, and I don’t know what he was thinking at the time, either,” Cooper said Sunday night.
Although he no longer had a valid license, Routh was behind the wheel when Greensboro police pulled him over, according to news reports at the time. He fled the scene and drove to the offices of United Roofing, where he barricaded himself inside, armed with a fully automatic machine gun, the Greensboro News & Record reported.
Three hours later, Routh surrendered. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a weapon of mass destruction, the machine gun, as well as resisting, delaying and obstructing a law enforcement officer and driving while his license was revoked.
“All I know is that I woke up one morning to the news that he was arrested and the boys needed work orders, so I went and got the work orders,” Cooper said. “He threatened to blow up the entire Greensboro Police Department, which was all documented in the police reports.”
A judge gave Routh a suspended sentence and probation, which avoided prison altogether, court records show.
I interview with WiredTracy Fulk, the officer who arrested Routh that day, said, “I noticed he was either dead or in jail right now. I had no clue that he had moved on and was continuing with it.”
Fulk said Routh was involved in other acts, and officers “always knew he had weapons.” Routh’s rap sheet dates back to the early 1980s, with numerous charges for vehicular offenses including DUIs.
“All we can do is arrest them and obviously it goes into the court system and they sort that all out,” Fulk said Wired. “It’s frustrating at times.”
For Cooper, her role at United Roofing quickly turned into much more than first expected, as she served as Routh’s personal assistant.
“[I would] Pick him up, take him to do estimates, pick up payroll, pay the boys, pick the kids up, take them shopping for their school clothes,” Cooper said. “Lora, his ex-wife, she was sweet.”
In 2004, Cooper was terminated without warning, she said, explaining, “My sister Theresa was stealing the car in the middle of the night and running out of gas.”
When the car’s transmission eventually blew, Routh blamed Cooper, “and I got fired up,” she continued. This prompted a “falling out” between the two of them, according to Cooper, who said, “He wouldn’t even talk to me when I ran into the store.”
At the same time, Cooper also described Routh as a “good guy.” He didn’t have any strong political views that she knew of, she said, adding that he seemed focused mainly on “money, jobs,” and the staff of 40 who worked for him .
“He did what he could for people,” she said. “That’s why I don’t understand what’s going on with him.”
According to section 2001 sa News & Recordwhen Routh saw a nearby resident’s home in disrepair, he assembled a crew of volunteers from his church and workers from United Roofing to repair the man’s home, free of charge.
“With all the resources we have today, there’s no reason anyone should have to live like this,” Routh told the outlet.
Cooper moved to Hawaii in 2018 to try to build affordable housing, according to his LinkedIn profile. Cooper said she hasn’t seen or spoken to him since.
“What makes people do stupid shit nowadays?” Cooper wondered. “I mean, come on now.”
