Armed man arrested at NC airport as Obama departs

[Pirate Smile]

Source: Associated Press

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Police say an Ohio man has been charged after authorities spotted him with a gun in a North Carolina airport parking lot as Air Force One was departing.

Airport police Capt. Kevan Smith says at about 2 p.m. Sunday, officers saw 23-year-old Joseph McVey get out of a car in the public lot and he was wearing a handgun.

Security was heightened because President Barack Obama was departing after vacationing in the state. The suspect was nowhere near the president's plane.

Smith says McVey's car had strobe lights like a police car might, but the suspect is not in law enforcement.
McVey is charged with going armed in terror of the public, a misdemeanor.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36771668

[Flying Dream Blues]

1. McVey??? Jeez.

And seeing as how the President was in the area, I'd want to make sure what his intentions were before he got off with a misdemeanor.
Scary.

[DesertFlower]

14. i was thinking the same thing.

[RufusTFirefly]

15. Shades of Raymond LEE HARVEY and OSVALDO Ortiz

Two guys implicated in an effort to intimidate Pres. Carter.

Someone powerful is sending Pres. Obama a message.

[aquart]

19. Then I hope we send a powerful message back.

[Motown_Johnny]

2. Going armed in terror of the public is a misdemeanor?

[onenote]

3. its a common law offense akin to disturbing the peace

Its not actually a statutory crime.

[Renew Deal]

8. I can't understand what that even meens.

:wtf:

[uppityperson]

9. "going armed in terror of the public"? What does that mean? "In terror OF the public"?

He has a gun since he is scared of the public? What?

[DissedByBush]

10. Open carry is legal in NC

However, you can get arrested for terrorizing people with your weapon. Makes sense.

But what is a reasonable law is often used as a catch-all when the police want to arrest someone who was legally open carrying.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

18. open carry in motor vehicle but may be limited in localities

From this website Open Carry:

North Carolina is a traditional open carry state. You MAY open carry in a motor vehicle. However, localities may regulate the carrying of firearms under certain circumstances.
...

Preemption Complete state preemption of firearms laws except localities may regulate the possession of firearms:
In public-owned buildings
On the grounds or parking areas of those buildings
In public parks or recreation areas
Additionally, under NC Code Chapter 14 § 160A.189, a city may by ordinance ... regulate the display of firearms on the streets, sidewalks, alleys, or other public property.

While the word "display" does not appear to be defined in the Code, some localities in NC have adopted, or are considering adopting ordinances like the city of Chapel Hill's which restrict the open carry of handguns.

This was challenged in State v. Fennell (1989) and the NC Court of Appeals upheld previous NC court decisions stating that the guarantee of an individual right to openly bear arms in the NC constitution was subject to reasonable regulation declaring that "a pistol shall not be under a certain length."

NOTE: Almost all states allow local regulation of the discharge of firearms

http://opencarry.org/nc.html

[struggle4progress]

20. "going about armed to the terror of the populace" seems to be an old common-law offense

in NC, of some provenance, since (for example) NCGS § 14‑288.3 explicitly provides "this Article shall not be deemed to abrogate, abolish, or supplant such common‑law offenses" with mention of "going about armed to the terror of the populace"

The offense has been known for well more than a century, and perhaps more than two, and police scanner reports suggest that it is regularly invoked

[47of74]

4. I wonder what the reich wing excuse is for this?

[Mythbuster]

7. Whatever do you mean??

He was merely a "true patriot" exercising his rights to bear arms. :smoke: He'll probably become some sort of dysfunctional poster child for the Tea Party Talibangelicals. It makes me wonder... what would his fate have been had "W" been the POTUS departing from the airport where this freak was hanging out armed? Kinda like the guy open carrying an assault weapon outside where President Obama was speaking in Arizona. They wouldn't have done this shit when "W" was in office, if they had, they would have found themselves on a cargo jet with one way ticket aboard Rendition Airlines. I firmly believe that the clock is ticking away on one of these "patriots" pulling the trigger. I just pray the Secret Service is operating at full speed ahead to thwart these acts before anyone is hurt or killed.

[Democat]

12. What if he was a Muslim and it was Bush at the airport?

Bet the teabaggers wouldn't love him so much then. :evilgrin:

[PSPS]

5. What's with all these fake cop cars and their armed drivers?

Besides this, we have that strip bar guy who had machine guns in his car which was also outfitted with emergency lights and a siren.

[intheflow]

6. We had a case here in CO a few years back

where this guy had his car outfitted with police lights. He'd pull over cars driven by single women, pose as an officer, and then rape them. That was my first thought reading the Shotgun Willie patron story. But I'm guessing this is more militia/survivalist crazies thinking a) when the minorities rise up/riot/take over the world, they will become defacto deputies and so are entitled to the bells and whistles--just in case:puke:; or b) when the minorities rise up/riot/take over the world, they will need to get outta Dodge as fast as they can to save their ignorant women and children and own asses, so have the lights and sirens to pose as emergency workers and get through roadblocks safely. :puke:

[Mopar151]

13. Ed Brown (Plainfield, NH tax protester)

Used to drive around in an erzatz cop car with "Constitution Ranger" on the door. Fake cops show up too often for me around here - they seem to have a wide range of issues, but they are all on the "nasty" spectrum.

[alp227]

11. I thought that Timothy McVeigh was executed already...oh wait McVEY

That's a much younger, living guy right there. He's probably a mentally ill stalker type. Isolate him. NOW.

[flamingdem]

16. This clown should be happy he didn't get near Obama

He'd have finished up with a couple of bullet holes in him.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

17. sorry it happened but glad it wasn't a NC citizen doing this - I'm from NC

and I was worried that someone in Buncombe County or elsewise might do something like this.

Our state went purple in 2008, the first time our electoral votes have been awarded to a
democrat since Carter.

Obama won by a narrow margin of about 13,000 votes!

We are a Jim Crow state and we have moderates as well as extreme on both sides.

We usually have a democratic Governor and majority (sometimes slim) of Democrats in the state legislature.

[Judi Lynn]

21. Agence France-Presse had a slightly more SERIOUS article:

Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Armed man arrested trying to meet Obama

~snip~
The statement said the officers asked McVey what he was doing and he “stated that he heard the president was in town. He stated that he wanted to see the president.”

Local reports said that McVey at no time got close to Air Force One or Obama, who flew out of the airport on his way to a memorial for the victims of a mining disaster in West Virginia.

After disarming McVey, the officers discovered he had been listening to a police scanner radio, and that his car was fitted out with a siren and clear LED law enforcement lights in the front and the rear.

He was carrying a sidearm and police found rifle scope formulae in the cupholder of the car, which also had a mounted digital camera in the front window and four large antennas on the trunk.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/04/27/wld00.asp

[GoddessOfGuinness]

22. From the article:

"Wise said he was unaware McVey had a gun, but said with certainty he did not believe McVey would ever want to harm the president."

Then WTF did he have his gun for?