Michigan man gets 51-month prison sentence for threatening Cheney

MLLive.come ^ | 6/16/05

[anniegetyourgun]

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A federal judge sentenced a Michigan man Thursday to four years and three months in prison for threatening to kill Vice President Dick Cheney.

U.S. District Judge Gordon J. Quist also sentenced Homer O. Shoup, 51, to three years of supervised release after his prison term and fined him $3,000.

Authorities said Shoup called a 911 dispatcher Oct. 29 and said he had turned his van into a mobile bomb that he planned to use to kill Cheney. They said he planned to crash the vehicle into a Lansing building where the vice president spoke later that day.

Less than two hours after the call, authorities tracked down and arrested Shoup in a Grand Rapids park, about an hour's drive northwest of Lansing. He was found sleeping in his van, which carried a propane gas tank, a full five-gallon gas tank and three empty metallic trash cans, according to court records.

Shoup, of Wayland, about 20 miles south of Grand Rapids, pleaded guilty March 17 to a federal charge of threatening to kill the vice president.

At his sentencing hearing, Shoup, who has a long history of mental illness, apologized for making the threat and said he had no intention of hurting Cheney.

He could have been sentenced to a maximum prison term of five years

[cripplecreek]

"Shoup, who has a long history of mental illness,"


If I were Shoup I would be wondering when we're going to round up the rest of the nutjob party.

[sgtbono2002]

He will have plenty of time to think it over.

[anniegetyourgun]

"At his sentencing hearing, Shoup, who has a long history of mental illness..."

I think this is a new way of saying that being a Democrat leads to poor mental health....

[johnny7]

Guess it's a big 'time-out' 'fer Homer.

[cripplecreek]

D'OH!!!!

[onevoter]

"Long history of mental illness."

Before Carter decided that we had to empty the State Mental Hospitals and grant these people their "rights" we didn't have to deal with nut-cases like this running loose. Now that I think about it, we didn't have to deal with street people, either. Gotta love the way the Dems beat on the Pubs about street people when, in fact, they were the party that put them on the street in the first place!

[SmithL]

Hmmmm. Shoup won't be MovingOn for a while.

[ProudVet77]

So why wasn't Alec Baldwin sentenced or even accused? Hollywierd justice again?

[anniegetyourgun]

Damn good question....

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"Before Carter decided that we had to empty the State Mental Hospitals and grant these people their "rights" we didn't have to deal with nut-cases like this running loose."

Exactly. A co-worker of mine was stabbed to death in front of her daughter thanks to Carter and his welcoming policies to the Cuban criminals and nutjobs that landed on our shores.

[mountaineer]

being a Democrat leads to poor mental health....

To say the least! Being a Democrat - at least a Kerry/Dean Democrat - is evidence of extreme mental instability.

[onevoter]

Geez, I had temporarily forgotten about Carter allowing Cuba to empty their prisons and send them over here for us to feed and house for the rest of their lives. As a reward for being the "worst United States President in recent history" (or maybe "worst" in all history) Carter was granted the Nobel Peace Prize. What kind of logic is that??!

[EdHallick]

At his sentencing hearing, Shoup, who has a long history of mental illness, apologized for making the threat and said he had no intention of hurting Cheney.

Democrats do the same thing, so I guess that qualifies Democrats as mentally ill? Forget the VP, how many times have not only liberals, but WELL KNOWN liberals threatened the President himself? Right after Bush came onto the scene we had Craig Kilborn on late night TV inviting people to shoot Bush with a picture of a target on Bushs head. Curious how that was all but ignored. Then from there, Bush has been getting threats all the time from the lefties, oh but that`s right, it`s "all a joke" ha ha ha! Yeah, it`s so funny, but because they are from Hollywood or famous, it`s OK.

Video capture of the threat on the Kilborn show.......

[anniegetyourgun]

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that one....

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"What kind of logic is that??!"

Where you been? There isn't any logic on the left, LOL! And you and I both know that Clinton will be getting one in the future, too. Warn your Grandkids now! ;)

[ambrose]

"Shoup, who has a long history of mental illness,"

[Utilizer]

I suppose that means that Howard Dean's current speechwriter is in no danger of losing his job, for the moment. :=)

[JarheadFromFlorida]

Shoup is part of the grassroots Howard Dean base.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

"Shoup, who has a long history of mental illness"

Evidenced by his long-time participation (over 2500 posts!) at DU.