Mailman lands gyrocopter on U.S. Capitol lawn to deliver message

[Brian4Liberty]

WASHINGTON — Doug Hughes, the 61-year-old mailman from Ruskin, successfully landed his gyrocopter on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol today.

He was promptly arrested.


About 1 a.m. one night last spring, a Secret Service agent accompanied by a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy rang Doug Hughes' doorbell. Lights went on inside his spare little house in Ruskin. The plainclothes agent showed his badge. Hughes stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

The agent asked him questions about his plan to save America, he said, and Hughes was honest in his replies, if not totally forthcoming with details. Yes, he did own a gyrocopter. Yes, he keeps it in a hangar at the small airport in Wauchula. Yes, he had talked of doing something big to bring attention to the issue of campaign finance reform. No, he was not planning to crash into any buildings or monuments in Washington, D.C.

I'm not a violent person, Hughes remembers saying. All I want to do is draw attention.

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.

The Secret Service won't confirm the agent's visit because there was no arrest. But Hughes says he was questioned for about 45 minutes, and he has an agent's business card. Two days later, Hughes said, the same agent showed up at the post office where Hughes works and asked more questions . He also talked to one of Hughes' colleagues with whom he had discussed his plan. The colleague told the Tampa Bay Times that he, too, answered questions. Hughes even gave the agent permission to talk to his doctor, to assure him he wasn't suicidal or homicidal.

And then, for months, nothing. That was it, Hughes said. No other questions. No other contact. So Hughes, who sees himself as a sort of showman patriot, a mix of Paul Revere and P.T. Barnum, put his plan into action.

He bought a burner cell phone and a video camera, and tested a livestream video feed from his gyrocopter ( tbtim.es/gpa). He built a website offline that explains who he is and why he's doing what he's doing. He bought $250 worth of stamps and stuffed 535 two-page letters into 535 envelopes, each addressed to a specific member of Congress:

"I'm demanding reform and declaring a voter's rebellion in a manner consistent with Jefferson's description of rights in the Declaration of Independence," he wrote in his letters. "As a member of Congress, you have three options. 1. You may pretend corruption does not exist. 2. You may pretend to oppose corruption while you sabotage reform. 3. You may actively participate in real reform."

He also learned how to fly.

Late last week, he loaded the gyrocopter onto a trailer and headed for an undisclosed location outside the nation's capital.

If you're reading this, Doug Hughes, a 61-year-old mailman from Ruskin, has taken flight. His stated intent: to buzz through the air at 45 miles per hour at about 300 feet up in an ultralight gyrocopter toward Washington, D.C., toward protected airspace, where, if his plan works, he'll land on the lawn of the United States Capitol building and deliver the mail.
...
More: http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/ruskin-mailman-tries-flying-to-capitol-in-gyrocopter-to-deliver-campaign/2225584

[The Northbreather]

fucking awesome

[JK/SEA]

Adam Kokesh and Doug Hughes for President and vice-President.

[orenbus]

Was just watching news coverage on this, this is a hilarious story.

[orenbus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giv8wy-9lEI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4BW94tEBrg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIs6RVwzrk4


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wyM_sY0oFQ

[orenbus]

Bomb robot "disarming" the gyrocopter.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po9OlD9L-Q0


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2AgGnC8Bvs

[Natural Citizen]

This is Major Tom to Ground Control....

[aGameOfThrones]

He didn't use the TSA... Criminal


destroying mail is a federal offense

[presence]

How dare he land on His Majesty’s Imperial Lawn.

[Henry Rogue]

Great now I'll have to get a background check to buy a gyrocopter.

P.S. Little Nellie would have gotten him life in prison.

[orenbus]

fucking awesome

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7e92hGRWb1qc31blo1_500.jpg

[Anti Federalist]

Anything that makes Mordor look foolish is fine by me.

[Spikender]

That woman in the first video.

"Oh no, this is not good!"

I don't know, looks pretty swell to me.

Mad respect to dude. Freakin' hero and a good role model.

[luctor-et-emergo]

It's a wonder he even got off the ground with giant balls like that.

[ctiger2]

How is it even possible the NSA wasn't able to even stop this attempt? They're supposed to be keeping us safe.

[Scrapmo]

Obviously, we should ban gyrocopters now.

Glad we spent all that money on the NSA, Homeland security, etc, to prevent things like this from happening.

[Anti Federalist]

Obviously, we should ban gyrocopters now.

Obviously.

Not a good day in AmeriKa without something being banned.

[jmdrake]

Hmmmm.................

The Secret Service won't confirm the agent's visit because there was no arrest. But Hughes says he was questioned for about 45 minutes, and he has an agent's business card. Two days later, Hughes said, the same agent showed up at the post office where Hughes works and asked more questions . He also talked to one of Hughes' colleagues with whom he had discussed his plan. The colleague told the Tampa Bay Times that he, too, answered questions. Hughes even gave the agent permission to talk to his doctor, to assure him he wasn't suicidal or homicidal.

Okay. This is all I want to know. Is the secret service agent that was sent out to question this gyrocopter pilot one of the ones that crashed drunk into the Whitehouse fence or is he one of the ones that procured the hookers in South America?

[jmdrake]

Wait a second. With everything going on wrong in the world, electronic voting machines rigging elections wars on top of wars, sexual predators working for the TSA and groping people at the airport, U.S. troops guarding opium in Afghanistan, Pentagon contractors procuring child sex slaves, Benghazi, NSA spying, indefinite detention, secret police facilities in Chicago, the one thing he risks his life over is a partisan rallying cry for the party currently occupying the Whitehouse? Really?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giv8wy-9lEI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4BW94tEBrg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIs6RVwzrk4


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wyM_sY0oFQ

[orenbus]

Wait a second. With everything going on wrong in the world, electronic voting machines rigging elections wars on top of wars, sexual predators working for the TSA and groping people at the airport, U.S. troops guarding opium in Afghanistan, Pentagon contractors procuring child sex slaves, Benghazi, NSA spying, indefinite detention, secret police facilities in Chicago, the one thing he risks his life over is a partisan rallying cry for the party currently occupying the Whitehouse? Really?

I have a feeling what he would say is that from his point of view, a lot of what you listed (directly or indirectly) stems from the money in Washington driven by special interests and lobbyists that corrupt the spirit of the original intention. He may not have a clear picture on what the solution or even the problem actual is, but much of the time the axiom "follow the money" applies, this seems like what his message is saying. He's most likely listening to the wrong people talking about these issues, for example quoting Kerry in the letter he wrote up, but he understands there is a problem even if he may be misguided on what the solution might be. If it was partisan supporting the current whitehouse, your right why do it?

edit: 1:55 in this video


https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=118&v=3wyM_sY0oFQ

[jmdrake]

I have a feeling what he would say is that from his point of view, a lot of what you listed (directly or indirectly) stems from the money in Washington driven by special interests and lobbyists that corrupt the spirit of the original intention. He may not have a clear picture on what the solution or even the problem actual is, but much of the time the axiom "follow the money" applies, this seems like what his message is. He's most likely listening to the wrong people talking about the issue, for example quoting Kerry in the letter he wrote up, but he understands there is a problem. If it was partisan supporting the current whitehouse, your right why do it?

edit: 1:55 in this video


https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=118&v=3wyM_sY0oFQ

Oh I'm sure he thinks that which makes his whole scheme even more lame. He's probably upset about Citizen's United. Guess what? Obama agree with him. And even if all of congress voted the way he wanted it wouldn't matter because that is a Supreme Court decision. That said, government was bought and paid for before Citizen's United and will be bought and paid for just the same if CU were to be overturned. The solution to the problems in government isn't more laws written by the same lobbyists that make him upset.

[JK/SEA]

yeah, all that over campaign finance reform....why didn't he just tack on his concern for all the pot holes in the streets?...geez...

what a waste over a good protest idea...he's lucky a hellfire missile wasn't launched his way...

[brushfire]

fucking awesome

QFT

[brushfire]

Maybe he'll spark a bunch of people to show up with pots and pans?

I might not share the same fervor for his cause, but I believe the guy has what it takes to get noticed. Good for him, and I hope to see more gyro-copters landing on the whitehouse lawn - maybe a few on the roof.

[Brian4Liberty]

The reaction by the talking heads on this is scary. This will result in more power and money for the government.

Everyone is asking "how could this possibly happen", as if there is a way to prevent it. But futilely building up the police/military state, and destroying freedom in search of unattainable safety seems to be the standard procedure.

They could militarize DC like Baghdad, and shoot people on sight, and it still wouldn't have prevented this.

[Christopher A. Brown]

The mailman overcame the abridging of the purpose of free speech. Good!

Some unity on campaign finance reform will be a very good thing.

Too bad he did not and does understand why he had to do the stunt in the first place, because the PURPOSE of free speech is abridged. Of course he knows that to get attention from media etc. he had to do something. But the notion that free speech has a specific ultimate purpose probably never occurred to him as well as most reading this post.

The purpose is the creation of unity adequate to alter or abolish government destructive to our unalienable rights.

Hughes has created some unity on the issue of campaign finance reform, but what got him flying was the abridging of the purpose of free speech.

The comprehensive strategy is firstly about PREPARATORY AMENDMENT to Article V proceedings. The most critical is ending the abridging of the purpose of free speech. See the thread about our lawful and peaceful revolution.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?471555-A-lawful-and-peaceful-revolution

Ending the abrading of the purpose of free speech changes everything. When Americans learn what is really going on, they will participate in democracy like they never thought they would. And they will enjoy it, because it will be highly functional.

After ending the abridging of the purpose of free speech, comes securing the vote and elections, then campaign finance reform.

When those three aspects are widely constitutional across the nation, we can proceed to fully restore constitutional government.

[Suzanimal]

A Visit to the Capitol
Butler Shaffer


It was amusing to watch the government functionaries get their diapers into such a painful twist over the spectacle of a man who landed his flying lawnmower at the U.S. capitol building. One news channel sock-puppet went so far as to describe the event as “terrifying,” doubtless meaning, to her, that it was not listed on any scripted agenda to which her employer was expected to provide coverage. The man was quoted as saying that his act was purely one of “civil disobedience,” not violence-motivated. I was immediately reminded of the man who gave “civil disobedience” its peaceful meaning, Henry David Thoreau. Describing his experiences of the night he spent in jail for refusing to pay a tax, Thoreau reminds us of just how deep run the veins of cowardice in those who are terrified by the prospect of their underlings choosing to stand outside their appointed pens. “I saw that the State was half-witted, that it was timid as a lone woman with her silver spoons, and that it did not know its friends from its foes, and I lost all remaining respect for it, and pitied it.”

https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/a-visit-to-the-capitol/

[orenbus]

The reaction by the talking heads on this is scary. This will result in more power and money for the government.

Everyone is asking "how could this possibly happen", as if there is a way to prevent it. But futilely building up the police/military state, and destroying freedom in search of unattainable safety seems to be the standard procedure.

They could militarize DC like Baghdad, and shoot people on sight, and it still wouldn't have prevented this.

Yea I was thinking about this yesterday, if we are to believe the military response on 9/11 where they were completely caught off guard and even after trying to scramble jets that went in wrong directions / unarmed, can't pick up commercial planes on radar without their transponder over U.S. soil, etc. It would be hard to imagine they would be able to detect or prevent a gyrocopter from entering DC airspace, even with advanced warning and even if the message made it through the bureaucracy. It's funny because honestly before 9/11 I thought for sure even though the cold war had ended we had fighter jet squadrons on ready alert waiting for anything to happen, and regular patrols along international waters. I figured that's what we pay them for little did I know exactly how unprotected we really are and how we need to depend on ourselves individually more than any military we can muster.

It would be sad to see DC militarized, but I wouldn't put it past them, anything to keep the appearance of security and keep the American people fooled.

[Philhelm]

Ballsy. Stupid, but ballsy.

[Anti Federalist]

It would be sad to see DC militarized, but I wouldn't put it past them, anything to keep the appearance of security and keep the American people fooled.

I have not stepped foot in Mordor in over forty years now, but I was under the impression it already was.

[osan]

Okay. This is all I want to know. Is the secret service agent that was sent out to question this gyrocopter pilot one of the ones that crashed drunk into the Whitehouse fence or is he one of the ones that procured the hookers in South America?

Yes.

[AuH20]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhdipxaklvo

[Brian4Liberty]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhdipxaklvo

Prime example of what I was saying, What a couple of douche-bags.

[phill4paul]

Lost on the talking heads, or more specifically ignored, was the stated purpose of his stunt.

The letter, one for each Congresscritter....


Dear ___________,
Consider the following statement by John Kerry in his farewell speech to the Senate —
"The unending chase for money I believe threatens to steal our democracy itself. They know it. They know we know it. And yet, Nothing Happens!" — John Kerry, 2-13

In a July 2012 Gallup poll, 87% tagged corruption in the federal government as extremely important or very important, placing this issue just barely behind job creation. According to Gallup, public faith in Congress is at a 41-year record low, 7%. (June 2014) Kerry is correct. The popular perception outside the DC beltway is that the federal government is corrupt and the US Congress is the major problem. As a voter, I’m a member of the only political body with authority over Congress. I’m demanding reform and declaring a voter’s rebellion in a manner consistent with Jefferson’s description of rights in the Declaration of Independence. As a member of Congress, you have three options.

You may pretend corruption does not exist.

You may pretend to oppose corruption while you sabotage reform.

You may actively participate in real reform.

If you’re considering option 1, you may wonder if voters really know what the 'chase for money' is. Your dismal and declining popularity documented by Gallup suggests we know, but allow a few examples, by no means a complete list. That these practices are legal does not make them right! Obviously, it is Congress who writes the laws that make corruption legal.

Dozens of major and very profitable corporations pay nothing in taxes. Voters know how this is done. Corporations pay millions to lobbyists for special legislation. Many companies on the list of freeloaders are household names — GE, Boeing, Exxon Mobil, Verizon, Citigroup, Dow …

Almost half of the retiring members of Congress from 1998 to 2004 got jobs as lobbyists earning on average fourteen times their Congressional salary. (50% of the Senate, 42% of the House)

The new democratic freshmen to the US House in 2012 were 'advised' by the party to schedule 4 hours per day on the phones fund raising at party headquarters (because fund raising is illegal from gov’t offices.) It is the donors with deep pockets who get the calls, but seldom do the priorities of the rich donor help the average citizen.

The relevant (rich) donors who command the attention of Congress are only .05% of the public (5 people in a thousand) but these aristocrats of both parties are who Congress really works for. As a member of the US Congress, you should work only for The People.

Not yourself.

Not your political party.

Not the richest donors to your campaign.

Not the lobbyist company who will hire you after your leave Congress.

There are several credible groups working to reform Congress. Their evaluations of the problem are remarkably in agreement though the leadership (and membership) may lean conservative or liberal. They see the corrupting effect of money — how the current rules empower special interests through lobbyists and PACs — robbing the average American of any representation on any issue where the connected have a stake. This is not democracy even if the ritual of elections is maintained.

The various mechanisms which funnel money to candidates and congress-persons are complex. It happens before they are elected, while they are in office and after they leave Congress. Fortunately, a solution to corruption is not complicated. All the proposals are built around either reform legislation or a Constitutional Amendment.

Actually, we need both — a constitutional amendment and legislation.

There will be discussion about the structure and details of reform. As I see it, campaign finance reform is the cornerstone of building an honest Congress. Erect a wall of separation between our elected officials and big money. This you must do — or your replacement will do. A corporation is not 'people' and no individual should be allowed to spend hundreds of millions to 'influence' an election. That much money is a megaphone which drowns out the voices of 'We the People.' Next, a retired member of

Congress has a lifelong obligation to avoid the appearance of impropriety. That almost half the retired members of Congress work as lobbyists and make millions of dollars per year smells like bribery, however legal. It must end. Pass real campaign finance reform and prohibit even the appearance of payola after retirement and you will be part of a Congress I can respect.

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.

The question is where YOU individually stand. You have three options and you must choose.

Sincerely,
Douglas M. Hughes

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

Some people here are saying he landed at the White House, but he actually landed at the Capitol.



Also, from the article:



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.

Yet ANOTHER example of keeping your mouth shut when you're doing something.




The Secret Service won't confirm the agent's visit because there was no arrest.

They won't confirm anything because they were VERY carefully watching him.

He even said he told them an hour in advance of entering a no fly zone that he was going to enter a no fly zone. I'm guessing they THOROUGHLY checked this guy out for that dormant period, and then CAREFULLY let him perform his action. They quickly arrested him after landing, and then let the fearful media and dipshit congressmen comment on his terrorizing act.

The visual that boobus takes away is a deranged man in his deranged machine. The government played it perfectly. If someone wants an anatomy of a real conspiracy (at least in the sense of being harmful to freedom), then this, I'd say, is the perfect anatomy of one.

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

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.


:rolleyes:

Maybe he's in one of those milita-sovereign citizen-freemason deals.

[Christopher A. Brown]

Lost on the talking heads, or more specifically ignored, was the stated purpose of his stunt.

The letter, one for each Congresscritter....



"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.

Yes, and strategy to create the unity to do this can be found here.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?471555-A-lawful-and-peaceful-revolution

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

Really--this guy sounds a like a lib. Keeps talking about democracy, polls, and "individual[s]...allowed to spend hundreds of millions to 'influence' an election." I don't know of any individual who has spent such money. The guy is mostly parroting all the retarded, ho hum shit you see on tee vee.

His first issue is campaign finance because he said that influences everything. Campaign money however, comes from three sources: donors, taxpayers, and candidates themselves. I'm guessing this guy would rather see taxes foot the bill.

I'll bet if this guy said he was doing this for Miriam Carey or the thousands of dogs shot by lice, then he would have been arrested before he ever got to do anything.

I'll still tip my hat to him because something is better than nothing, but it still strikes of Occupy. Guess it's also easy for me to criticize behind a keyboard. I still think the government cautiously considered his fairly innocuous and mundane "demand." They figured the stunt was basically harmless, but then used it to their advantage and really played the guy.

I'd like to hope I'm wrong. I'd like to get behind someone like this, but I heard him speak. He just sounds like some TV spoon fed drone who got bored sorting mail.

[Shrugs]

[otherone]

I have not stepped foot in Mordor in over forty years now, but I was under the impression it already was.

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/61454637.jpg

[otherone]

I'll still tip my hat to him because something is better than nothing, but it still strikes of Occupy. Guess it's also easy for me to criticize behind a keyboard. I still think the government cautiously considered his fairly innocuous and mundane "demand." They figured the stunt was basically harmless, but then used it to their advantage and really played the guy.

I'd like to hope I'm wrong. I'd like to get behind someone like this, but I heard him speak. He just sounds like some TV spoon fed drone who got bored sorting mail.

[Shrugs]

You may be wrong on this one; the gov is spinning this to appear that they knew all along this was going to happen (like the Old Bailey from V for Vendetta).
All of these little breeches of the Bastille ( the drone on the Whitehouse lawn and several people jumping the Whitehouse fence) strike home the idea that terrorist attacks in this country are false fronts...gyrocopters being much more available than Boeings.