Posted on 08/02/2014 8:30:09 AM PDT by marktwain
Unnamed witness: "at no time was anyone swept." (rifle pointed at them)
Dr. Peter N. Steinmetz is director of the Brain Modeling Laboratory at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. He is a second amendment advocate who comments on firearms issues on his facebook page. From his page, commenting on the Navy Yard Shootings in Washington D.C., where the carry of arms by anyone other than government agents is forbidden:
Sadly, looks like this may be another case of a mass shooting in an area where all the victims are legally disarmed.He is a passionate supporter of freedom in the United States, who opposes the excesses of the TSA. He protested TSA excesses by legally carrying a slung rifle in the non-secure part of the Phoenix airport in November of 2013. From azcentral.com, concerning the November protest:
"I was going to tell you earlier, but I will now," Steinmetz is quoted as saying in the November report. "Well, I am really here to protest the TSA and their policy of strip-searching Americans and all their stuff."From a post on google+ on November1, two days before the protest, Dr. Steinmetz writes:
They have never demonstrated they have foiled even one plot, and of course, one's chances of being killed in a terrorist attack are minuscule to start with compared to routine daily risks. For the sake of this security theatre, we tolerate a continual invasion of our privacy. Time to get rid of the expensive and wasteful TSA!On July 25, 2014, Dr. Steinmetz exercised his rights again. He carried a slung rifle into the unsecured area of Sky Harbor Airport. But this time, he was arrested, booked, and taken before a judge. It was reported that he was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct involving a firearm. It was claimed that he had inadvertently and briefly pointed the muzzle of his rifle at two women, who were later said to tell police that they were frightened. From kmov.com:
According to a probable cause statement, Steinmetz "proceeded to remove the Stag Arm AR-15 from his right shoulder, thus causing the muzzle to face two victims sitting to the right.The national and international media picked up the charges and blared them everywhere with headlines such as:
The facts claimed simply do not support the charges.
Dr. Steinmetz obtained the services of Marc Victor, a prominent local attorney. The choice of his website name is telling: attorneyforfreecom.com. An email from Alan Korwin, gun law guru, quoted Dr. Steinmetz as saying that the hearings had been vacated and that no charges had been filed.
Here is a YouTube video of an interview with Marc Victor about the case. Note that the anchor at 12news, Mark Curtis, takes sides in the issue. He goes so far as to claim that it would be reasonable for Arizonans to "blow away" anyone who would come into a Starbucks with a rifle slung on their shoulder.
In the video, you can see Doctor Steinmetz unsling the rifle. This is where the police claim that the infamous "muzzle sweep" occurred. Notice that the Doctor has a cup in his left hand, which would be consistent with the claim that he pointed the gun when he unslung the rifle after buying coffee at the airport Starbucks, then moving to a place to sit down.
The women seated to the right of the Doctor appear to be the women mentioned in the case. That action is shown in the first seven seconds of the video, then repeated several times throughout the interview. It is noteworthy that in this interview, the Anchor, Mark Curtis, never repeats the previous claim that Dr. Steinmetz "pointed the rifle at two women".
Attorney Marc Victor - Peter Steinmetz Case (4:21)
An unnamed source has come forward and stated that Doctor Steinmetz exhibited good muzzle discipline, and that the rifle was never pointed at anyone. Here is the statement, which is consistent with the video shown:
According to the security video (it's an airport, you can't escape big brother's surveillance cameras) the muzzle 'dipped slightly' - possibly in their direction but well over their heads. Apparently and LEO friendly with one of our members was on-site, and reported that at no time was anyone swept.At the link below the view is clearer, and you can see Dr. Steinmetz unsling the rifle and sit down. About five seconds later, a security person comes up and talks to the woman on his right. About 30 seconds later, Dr. Steinmetz is arrested.
The only thing the bad cops fear more than an armed citizen is a video camera. While they might arrest you for legaly carrying a weapon they’ll curbstomp you for aiming a camera at them.
Didn’t a prominent liberal just reveal his plan to create SWAT situations by screaming “gun!!!” or something?
GOD Bless Dr. Steinmetz!While his”method”might leave a trifle to be desired,his MESSAGE Was CLEAR!!We(Law-Abiding,Loyal Americans)are having our GOD-Given RIGHTS stripped away from us in a decidedly”Incremental Fashion”!!!This is how”Tryanny”takes over.Not all at once,but”Incrementally”!!!This is a practice of The DemonRats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5.56mm
Bravo for the video showing him using good barrel discipline. Clearly exculpatory of the Doctor. What remains to be seen is if his employer, Barrows Neurological, or the hospital he practices at, St. Joseph’s, will take issue with him about it.
In many places they would, but this is Arizona, so who knows?
A question should be raised about the accuser as well. Her unfounded accusation may have cost the Doctor considerable goodwill and damage to his reputation.
“A question should be raised about the accuser as well. Her unfounded accusation may have cost the Doctor considerable goodwill and damage to his reputation.”
The woman was approached by the police, not the other way around. She was under a lot of pressure to give the police the response that the police so clearly and desperately wanted.
A guy with a gun at the airport is being followed by 4-6 armed police. He sits down a few chairs over. Two of the police immediately approach you and ask you: “Did you see that? He pointed his gun at you! Were you frightened?”
What do you expect them to say?
We have never seen her statement. All that I have read is that after the police talked to her, she told them that she was frightened.
Merely being frightened or telling the police that you were, is not something that could be prosecuted. It is purely subjective.
The police are the ones in hot water here.
I strongly support the 2nd Amendment, concealed carry, etc. At the same time, while appearing legal and not a cause for arrest, this was deliberately and unnecessarily provocative behavior by the doctor in my opinion. I do not see that any constructive purpose was served. There are a lot of places one can go armed to get a Starbucks . . . why the airport right after some wacko shoots up an airport elsewhere? Smart people don't try to pick a fight in this kind of situation just to make a point, IMHO. It would be smarter to make the point in a less charged environment.
Okay, that sounds right. But was this just the Phoenix Police Airport Bureau assigned to Sky Harbor?
“Sky Harbor also has an operations staff which is responsible for safety and security on the curbs, inside of the terminals and in the Air Operations Area where the runways and taxiways are located.”
They camera monitor everything and alert the police. So they might have originally dropped a dime on the Doctor.
They also were the ones who had the video camera pointed right at him. So by providing the video, they were the ones who exonerated him.
You may be right. It is good to remember that there are good guys everywhere.
What is rather strange is that people assumed the video was only of the arrest, that the event being charged took place some where or some different time.
Everyone was looking for where he muzzled two women. It just was not there.
But if you look at the video that was originally released, it contains the time when the supposed “muzzle sweep” took place.
“Didn’t a prominent liberal just reveal his plan to create SWAT situations by screaming “gun!!!” or something?”
Yes, and more:
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2014/08/phoenix-anchor-says-arizonans-should-be.html
It’s a Right.
Cowards cower.......
If you scream "Gun!!!" in most places in Arizona there would probably be a brief period of silence after which someone would yell back "OK, how much you want for it?"
Good point.
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