S.F. Man Found With Enough Ammo for Mass Murder, Had List of Politicians

[RandySF]

Earlier this week police confirmed they had arrested a homeless man after finding a disturbing stash of weaponry in his car -- a day after the mass shootings in Colorado. If that wasn't enough to keep you on your toes, the suspect, Robert Johns, also had a list of high-profile politicians in tow.

KTVU talked to Johns in jail, where they learned all sorts of interesting information, like how Johns claims he was born twice. Johns also told reporters that his cache of weapons, which included a sawed-off shotgun, a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, 14 knives, and 5,000 rounds of ammunition, was just a hobby of his. He says the ammunition was given to him for his birthday(s) -- which perhaps explains why there was so much of it.

But what really caught our interest was the curious list of elected officials -- including President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner -- he had with him. Here's how the suspect explains that.

"I was learning politics and politicians, who they were as I saw them on TV," Johns said. "I wanted to be able to identify them and their positions." He told KTVU he had "no intention of shooting anyone. It's in no way related to the [Aurora] shootings and I had no intention of harm."



http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/08/robert_johns_ammunition.php

[uppityperson]

1. I am curious about him but find little online except this story. I'd like to know how old he is, is

he a vet, a teabagger, etc. I knew a vietnam vet who had an arsenal in his home to feel safe. Not excusing this, but just wondering. I am glad they found these before they were used and hope they can figure this guy out.

[RandySF]

3. There's another article.

They also found camo clothing and survivalist gear, which police noted in their report suggests perhaps this man was prepping for a violent act of "unknown dimension."

The man in question, Robert Johns, already had some run-ins with the law, according to the Chron. Apparently, one sunny day, he approached some cops and started ranting about how he had cut his own umbilical cord. When police asked to search his car, they found items that didn't give them a warm and fuzzy feeling, including a 12-gauge shotgun and a loaded .22 rifle.

A few weeks later, a Haight Street yoga studio called police to report Johns had been harassing the business; four days later -- the day after a gunman went on a shooting spree in a Colorado movie theater -- police found Johns' stash of weapons in his car at the park.

Police had no idea what he planned to do with all this ammunition, and they sure as hell weren't going to tell us. They arrested Johns and charged him with illegal weapons, concealed weapons, and drug possession for sale.



http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/07/robert_johns.php

[patrice]

2. A lot of us have "no intention" of a lot of things that we end up being part of anyway, e.g.

the murder of appx. 5K patriotic American troops and appx. 100K INNOCENT Iraqis, so . . . .

His weapons may or may not become part of something that he may or may not intend. I don't think he should be arrested for that, though, but since it IS possible for him to affect me, whether he intends to or not, I think I have a right to know who he is and what kinds of weapons he possesses. If he has a right to that kind of power, I have a reciprocal right to know.

[RandySF]

5. SF has strict gun laws.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

4. I had a friend murdered -

- by a mentally ill homeless man with a gun here in SF. My friend was walking his dog in the Panhandle and the man thought the dog was bothering the pigeons too much. The chronically mentally ill/homeless are incredibly hard to deal with - there is almost no mechanism to keep them (and us) safe.