Posted on 04/17/2015 12:39:53 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
"............“I am concerned because I think, you know, we should have been alerted,” Cummings said. “I’m telling you whenever anything happens around here, I get about 20 alerts, but I didn’t see anything on this, which is amazing.”
Whether the Oversight committee will hold a hearing on the incident remains unclear. A spokeswoman for Chairman Jason Chaffetz told CQ Roll Call staff is in the process of putting together a letter to the Secret Service to try and understand the circumstances surrounding the incident.
At least one public official was warning against overreaction.
“The gyrocopter incident yesterday was not a serious threat to the security of the nation’s capital,” said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., in a statement that warned against an overreaction by security officials and urged collaboration with the FAA before rushing to judgement. “If it had been, I am confident that Doug Hughes would likely not have lived to tell the tale. Surely the first remedy is deterrence and prevention, such as making sure that Hughes is held accountable to the full extent of the law.”
On the other side of the Capitol, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is looking into the incident.
“I am deeply concerned that someone has the ability to fly for over an hour through the most restricted airspace in our country, past the White House, and land on the lawn of the Capitol,” Johnson said in a Thursday statement on Hughes arrest. “I am investigating this incident and I am requesting a full accounting by all federal organizations entrusted with securing the United States from this and similar events. While Mr. Hughes’ guilt or innocence must still be determined by the courts, the apparent details serve as a reminder that the risk to America and Americans is ever present.”
Capitol Police said in a Wednesday statement that they are continuing to investigate the incident along with several partner agencies, including the Secret Service, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Park Police and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which is handling charges against Hughes. Capitol Police are also working with authorities in Pennsylvania, where he started his flight.
The Capitol Police Board, which has jurisdiction over the department and is currently reviewing a resignation letter from Dine, has not publicly commented. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Frank J. Larkin, the current chairman, did not respond to a press inquiry. Full story
Hillary Clinton just wanted some publicity for her presidential campaign and her call for campaign finance reform.
That it was such a flop, lends credence to this theory.
: )
The, known to the Secret Service, Gyrocoptering Postman was delivering letters with the same message, to all the members on Capital Hill.
Sort of like an airplane banner w/o the airplane and banner. He did get world coverage though.
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April 15, 2015, WASHINGTON DC, Capital Hill lawn:
"Doug Hughes, a 61-year-old mailman from Ruskin, told his friends he was going to do it. He was going to fly a gyrocopter through protected airspace and put it down on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, then try to deliver 535 letters of protest to 535 members of Congress......
....After 2½ years of planning, Hughes came hovering low over the buildings of northeast D.C. about 1:20 p.m., like a distant bird. He rounded the Washington Monument a few minutes later, flew straight up the expanse of the National Mall and brought his small craft down right in front of the Capitol, where he was quickly surrounded by police and surrendered without incident....
...In a statement issued to media outlets Wednesday, the Secret Service said it interviewed Hughes on Oct. 5, 2013, and that a "complete and thorough investigation was conducted."...
...Someone inside his circle of secrecy had reported him, telling the Secret Service that Hughes was talking about committing a daring act of civil disobedience that also happened to be a federal crime.
Two days later, Hughes said, the same agent showed up at the post office where Hughes works and asked more questions. One of Hughes' colleagues told the Tampa Bay Times that he, too, answered questions from the Secret Service.
And then, for months, nothing. That was it, Hughes said. No other questions. No other contact. Hughes put his plan into action......
[Snippet of Gyrocopter Mailman's letter]: "...The states have the power to pass a Constitutional Amendment without Congress — and we will. You in Congress will likely embrace the change just to survive, because liberals and conservatives won't settle for less than democracy. The leadership and organization to coordinate a voters revolution exist now! New groups will add their voices because the vast majority of Americans believe in the real democracy we once had, which Congress over time has eroded to the corrupt, dysfunctional plutocracy we have.".... Source
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April 14, 2015 - MONTICELLO, Iowa - - Hillary Clinton:
...“We need to fix our dysfunctional political system and get unaccountable money out of it once and for all, even if that takes a constitutional amendment,” Clinton said, throwing a populist hook to go along with the jabs she took at Wall Street during the same event. The former secretary of state didn’t elaborate on the specifics of her reform plan, but it’s widely assumed that she was lamenting Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that serves as a type of shorthand for the campaign laws that have allowed a deluge of outside spending to flood recent federal elections. Last summer, Clinton suggested she would “consider” supporting an amendment that overturned the ruling, an idea President Obama has also backed. It appeared on Tuesday that Clinton finally made up her mind....." Source
What the point of aresting this guy? He DIDN’T mean to do harm.
The problem is the the people that DO want to do harm, and they won’t be standing around waiting to be arrested.
Hitlery wants money out politics? Let’s see her stand by that and stop fund raising?
“.....Speaking to the Tampa Bay Times prior to his flight, Hughes said that he had phoned the Secret Service to tell them he would land in front of the Capitol and that he had emailed Barack Obama’s public email too.
He said that he flight would serve as a protest against rampant lobby and interest groups controlling the political process and a wake-up call for security.
‘Again, I’m going to fly low and slow and these guys are going to have a full head of adrenaline. Eventually, I’m hoping the Blackhawk will catch up with me about the time that the authorities realize that I’m not a threat and knocking me down is not a politically savvy move, and I anticipate having an escort all the way in. I’m hoping for a friendly escort.’....
The illiteracy of so called “journalist” continues to amaze and frustrate me.
The name of the aircraft in question is not gyrocopter but Autogyro or Autogiro.
The invention of the Autogyro precedes the invention of the Helicopter by two decades.
This won’t be the last time we see a Gyrocopter in public, Oh no! Just wait until the next Super Bowl or Grammy Awards.
Of course, I wouldn’t put it past someone like Donald Trump or Bernie Saunders to use this ultra cool way (though somewhat desperate) of attracting attention.
Or at the next ‘Ferguson’ emergency.
I can see a group like Occupy using this method to spray some noxious fluid over all the policeman, then, simply fly away, dodging the bullets behind them.
One thing for sure - all this publicity just gave ISIS and Al Qaeda a playbook.
All he did was embarrass them.
Oh no. Hillary wants to stifle our free speech, not restrict her ability to put the touch on "donors."
They KNEW he was coming.
I’m surprised they didn’t bake him a cake.
Didn’t appear to be a threat to me in the slightest.
In fact, I thought it was funny and a bit brave.
Still, he should be charged with something but, charging him for flying an unlicnesed plane seems a bit of a reach, as I don’t believe ultra lights are required to be licensed.
So the Bensen Gyrocopter was just a figment of my imagination?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bensen_B-8
Autogyro is the generic term of the type of aircraft.
Gyrocopter was a trademarked name of a specific product, that later became generic itself like Kleenex.
Civil Disobedience YES. Too bad he broke the law because now that is all the media is focusing on.
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