Posted on 12/26/2009 9:15:32 AM PST by Clioman
More than six months after government officials seized his rare vintage military aircraft, Claude Hendrickson said he is still in the dark about why the airplane was confiscated and when and if it will be returned to him.
Until the 1952 airplane -- believed to be one of only a handful of Douglas AD-4N Skyraiders in the U.S. -- is released from federal custody, Hendrickson said the aircraft will slowly deteriorate because he can't maintain it.
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Virginia Dabbs, spokeswoman for Customs and Border Patrol, said she could not comment on Hendrickson's claims.
"We don't harass people," Dabbs said.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.al.com ...
Something very ugly is happening all over America and this is just one little case.
You know the guy looks so much like someone who would be doing really nefarious things...like putting on a beard and playing Santa at Christmas.
He’s been labeled a “Conservative” That is enough for this Fascist Government.
Comng standard response to dissatisfied patients in the Obama health care system.
“Unlawful search and seizure” seems to apply here.
Note that the Air Force initiated this
Yes, well something very ugly happened to free America. It became the land of the used-to-be free. Welcome to Serfdom.
Law enforcement authorities seize private property every day, under laws aimed at persons engaged in the drug trade. The law has been abused and property has been confiscated from private citizens not engaged in any criminal activity. That’s what happens when you live in a communist country. Write your local commissar.
Well they may need the parts once they cancel all our jet fighters.
If the Air Force initiated the seizure, that there may be a dispute over who actually owns the aircraft.
Either there's more to this story than meets the eye, or something very ugly is happening in Free America.
Pretty much SOP for the BATFE. You gotta admit, it's bigger than a broken machine gun.
It is a great bomber and even without machine guns, would still be capable of delivering bombs, so maybe they think it needs to have some additional equipment removed...this isn’t the full story.
It is a great bomber and even without machine guns, would still be capable of delivering bombs, so maybe they think it needs to have some additional equipment removed...this isn’t the full story.
In May, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents seized the Skyraider that Hendrickson purchased from a private collector in France. Hendrickson, a business owner who lives in Shelby County, had imported the $100,000 aircraft from France and stored it in a hangar he leases at Bessemer Municipal Airport. Six weeks later, Hendrickson said ICE agents seized the plane and placed it into another hangar at the Bessemer airport...
Peggy Sanford, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office, said this week that a forfeiture case involving the airplane is pending. Sanford said that in cases where ICE seizes property and the owner challenges that seizure, it becomes a judicial matter and forwarded to the U.S. Attorney's office. The courts can then decide to proceed with the forfeiture of the property or decline to pursue forfeiture. Hendrickson said he has not been given any specifics on his case. "The thing that really concerns me," Hendrickson said Monday "is that we still know nothing about what is going on and ICE will not meet with us about the airplane."
Hendrickson has not been charged with any crime. Hendrickson said ICE agents told him after they seized the plane in May that he had failed to fill out a form required by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives when he imported the plane into the states from France. Hendrickson said he was unaware he had to register the plane with ATF since he removed the aircraft's artillery while it was still in France. The airplane is registered with the FAA. That agency issued a certificate of registration on the airplane in September 2008, according to the agency's Web site.
Not much to go on, but is a 6 month wait between property seizure and legal notice to owner even legal??
I stick to vehicles and only ones that are already Stateside. The nightmares of trying to import a former US vehicle into the US just isn't worth the potential costs.
There may be more to the story, but bombs is not it. The country is full of old warbirds capable of delivering bombs, including B-24s and B-17s with working Norden bombsights and fully functioning bomb racks in the bomb bays.
No doubt that ICE is after him, the question is do they have any evidence that would hold up in court? He ought to have the right to challenge what ICE is doing in court. They may be on a wild goose chase against an innocent American citizen while yet another Muslim wackado is igniting a shoe bomb on an airliner.
There may be more to the story, but bombs is not it. The country is full of old warbirds capable of delivering bombs, including B-24s and B-17s with working Norden bombsights and fully functioning bomb racks in the bomb bays.
No doubt that ICE is after him, the question is do they have any evidence that would hold up in court? He ought to have the right to challenge what ICE is doing in court. They may be on a wild goose chase against an innocent American citizen while yet another Muslim wackado is igniting a shoe bomb on an airliner.
When you buy aircraft from outside of the US....there are various customs forms required. Doesn’t matter how it came to exist or be owned by the French guy or that it was made originally in the US.
It would appear that the fed’s probably let this know this and expected paperwork to be forthcoming. Either he was very naive about this kind of deal....or had some reason to avoid discussion over his ownership (maybe a wife divorcing him soon or some failed bank loan where they might seize the personal property....take your pick).
I believe we’ve only been told half of the entire story...with this guy limiting his comments here on purpose.
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