Posted on 04/16/2015 4:21:14 AM PDT by Timber Rattler
Police arrested a Florida Postal Service worker who steered his tiny aircraft onto the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol after flying through restricted airspace around the National Mall on Wednesday.
The pilot was Douglas Mark Hughes of Ruskin, Fla., who remained in custody Wednesday evening, Capitol Police said in a statement. On his website, Hughes took responsibility for the stunt and said he was delivering letters to all 535 members of Congress to draw attention to campaign finance corruption.
"As I have informed the authorities, I have no violent inclinations or intent," Hughes wrote on his website, thedemocracyclub.org. "An ultralight aircraft poses no major physical threat — it may present a political threat to graft. I hope so. There's no need to worry — I'm just delivering the mail."
Capitol Police said Hughes could face charges of violating federal aviation laws. Airspace security rules that cover the Capitol and the District of Columbia prohibit private aircraft flights without prior coordination and permission, and violators can face civil and criminal penalties.
A Senate aide said Capitol Police knew of the plan shortly before Hughes took off and said he had previously been interviewed by the U.S. Secret Service. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the investigation.
Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said the agency interviewed Hughes in Florida in October 2013 after obtaining "information from a concerned citizen about an individual purporting their desire to land a single-manned aircraft on the grounds of the United States Capitol or the White House." Leary said the information was shared with Capitol Police and "a complete and thorough investigation was conducted."
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
“Going postal” is back in vogue.
It is called civil disobedience. We have a lot to learn from MLK. Peaceful and effective...and it is starting.
I just heard on local WSBA news that he launched from Gettysburg Airport, about 35 miles west of me. Heh.
“Hughes took responsibility for the stunt and said he was delivering letters to all 535 members of Congress to draw attention to campaign finance corruption.”
So the guy was a typical leftist complaining about the Koch brothers while at the same time ignoring George Soros and the Clinton’s. If he were Tea Party they would have shot him on the spot.
We spend billions of dollars so TSA agents can pat down grandmothers but cannot protect the very heart of our national government. Pathetic.
Postal worker gone aerial,,
How many of those Federal parasites in DC could build and fly a home made helicopter?
But did he have a heat signature large enough for a Stinger missile to lock on to?
He would have become a martyr for the cause of campaign finance reform. Then things would have gotten REALLY interesting.
For that reason I suspect it was not his idea and he was put up to this by some provocateur.
America’s choppers have come hoooooome to Mathais Rust!
What would you have done if you were the Park Service, Secret Service or whomever?
Shot at him with a Stinger, sending flaming debris raining down on tourist walking the sidewalks?
Arrest him two years ago on suspicion of "grumbling and distrust of the Federal government"? ("You Freepers, line up to the right and await your turn for handcuffs!")
Complete defense of a large, open access area is almost impossible.
What would a boss pilot do?
Somehow I suspect that if his cause would have been something other than campaign finance reform....say, Pro Life, or Gun Rights....he would have met that Stinger missle.
I bet you are right. Its like the guy who committed suicide at the Capitol turns out to be a huge lefty, then the press drops the story.
... What would you have done if you were the Park Service, Secret Service or whomever? ...
I am not a weapons expert but the Capital and White House must be impenetrable regardless of collateral damage. Whatever it takes, shoot it down and ask questions later.
Stinger likely wouldn’t even have locked on. Exhaust would probably be too small, too diffuse, and the wrong temperature range for a heat-seeker.
Radar-seeking wouldn’t be much better: not a lot of radar-cross-section to lock on to.
The proper defense against this type of threat is probably low-caliber AAA, either .50 cal or 20MM. Of course, then there’s the problem of what happens to the shells that miss, in a densely-populated urban area. . . .
> It is called civil disobedience. We have a lot to learn from MLK. Peaceful and effective...and it is starting.
We have an obligation to disobey unjust laws. MLK said so. If you dIsagree with him you are racist.
See how easy that was?
...did you see that?
I Have Idea! ... Allāhu Akbar
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