Armed man arrested at airport as Obama takes off

BamaBowtie

New member
This is not a drive by and is not meant to be political. I'm just curious about the last line of the article, what are "rifle scope formulas"?




Armed Man Arrested Near Obama PlaneUpdated: 16 minutes ago
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Theunis Bates
Contributor

AOL News (April 26) -- An armed man impersonating a police officer was arrested at the airport in Asheville, N.C., as President Barack Obama's plane prepared to take off, authorities said. He told officers he wanted to see the president.

Authorities said they stopped Joseph Sean McVey on Sunday afternoon after he was spotted carrying a gun, according to The Asheville Citizen Times. He had just gotten out of his car, which was parked in a rental return bay near a gate that leads onto the runway. Air Force One was reportedly taxiing when McVey was apprehended.

AP
Joseph Sean McVey, 23, was charged after authorities spotted him with a gun in a North Carolina airport parking lot as Air Force One was departing Sunday.
"They searched him and it looked like he had an empty pistol holster on his side, and I think I heard one of [the officers say] he had had a gun," Max Henkel, a resident who was at the airport to see Obama's departure, told the newspaper. "When I realized what was going on, I was flabbergasted."

Police and the Secret Service questioned McVey and removed his Springfield XD 40 handgun, Airport Police Capt. Kevan Smith said. McVey, 23, of Coshocton, Ohio, was charged with going armed in terror of the public, a misdemeanor. However, investigators have yet to determine whether he was attempting to target the president.

McVey is being held at Buncombe County jail on $100,000 bond. An official at Asheville court told The Associated Press that McVey would appear before a judge today.

Security had been boosted at Asheville as Obama was flying out of the airport after a brief vacation in the state to attend a memorial service in West Virginia for the 29 coal miners who were killed in an explosion earlier this month. Police emphasized that the president had never been in any danger.

Smith told the AP that when McVey was arrested, he had been listening in to local law enforcement agencies via a handheld scanner and radio. On being asked for identification, McVey handed over an Ohio driver's license, but a computer check showed the number was invalid, authorities said. When an officer asked him why he was at the airport, McVey said that he had heard the president was in town and wanted to see him, according to investigators.

Officers found that McVey's car had been equipped to resemble a police vehicle. However, Smith added, McVey did not work in law enforcement. The vehicle's front and rear dash were fitted with clear LED police-style strobe lights, and a digital camera was mounted near the front window. Four large antennas were also attached to the trunk, and a working siren box was located under the steering wheel.

Formulas for rifle scopes were also found on a sticky note in his car's cup holder, authorities said. Police have yet to elaborate on what the formulas might mean.
 

thallub

New member
Officers found that McVey's car had been equipped to resemble a police vehicle. However, Smith added, McVey did not work in law enforcement. The vehicle's front and rear dash were fitted with clear LED police-style strobe lights, and a digital camera was mounted near the front window. Four large antennas were also attached to the trunk, and a working siren box was located under the steering wheel.


This guy is a real sure nuff ninja.
 

BamaBowtie

New member
That's what I was thinking. I guess the officers were just trying to put it in lymans terms for the sheeple. Also did anyone else catch the guys name?!?! This could get interesting.
 

Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
Yeah, "McVey"....


My very first thought one seeing this was "I wonder if this guy has issues from name association...."

then I thought, just in passing,

"Did Timothy have a son that we don't know about?"


(spelling is different though)
 

azredhawk44

Moderator
Joseph Sean McVey

You don't get 3-name publicity unless you actually take the shot. Silly reporter. John Wilkes Booth. Lee Harvey Oswald.

his Springfield XD 40 handgun

handgun.

Formulas for rifle scopes

For rifles. Springfield XD 40 handgun is not a rifle.

What we got here is a big old bucket o' stupid.

Guy impersonates a cop but removes handgun from holster and leaves it behind prior to his approach, then tries to use the appearance of a police officer as a means to enter the airport runway system. SS stops him.
 

wally626

New member
From an AP story:
Randy Fisher, president of the Coshocton County Amateur Radio Association, said McVey was a ham radio enthusiast who had come several times to the group's monthly meetings over the last year or two. Fisher said he was shocked to hear of the arrest and said he last talked with McVey about a week ago via radio and always found him friendly and interesting to talk to.

"I was impressed that he was a public-service-minded type of individual. He really enjoyed using his ham radio for emergency services and that sort of thing," Fisher said.

For two years, McVey has been a member of a volunteer organization in his home area that assists the sheriff's department with traffic control at emergency scenes, said Tim Wise, president of Coshocton County REACT, or Radio Emergency Association Citizen Team.

Wise said he was inclined to believe McVey's arrest resulted from a misunderstanding.

"Everything they found on him, with the exception of a gun, he basically had all that when he was in Coshocton," Wise said Monday. "He just basically liked to monitor police frequencies and listen to what's going on."

That's common for REACT members, though members of the organization are not authorized to have police sirens and lights or break the speed limit on the way to emergencies, Wise said.

So it sounds like he was a little too enthusiastic police volunteer. If He had indeed left the gun in the car as the first story says, I am not sure why he is being charged. There are some prohibitions on having concealed guns at public demonstrations and the like in NC, but does watching a plane take off from a parking lot qualify?? Is it illegal to have a gun in a car without a valid permit? something like that? The AP version does describe the Rifle formulas paper, but it seems irrelevant unless he had a rifle with him.
 

kenno

Moderator
Airports are under Port Authority laws as well as Homeland Security. Yeah a gun in the trunk can get you arrested.
Sounds like this guy is a little authority figure obsessed, there was one in Portland OR last winter that was picking-up girls as a 'cop' turned-out to be a rapist as well.
 

wally626

New member
Except in a state like New York a gun in the trunk will not get you arrested. Depending on the state it may have to be unloaded, but the gun itself is not an issue. You can have a cased unloaded gun in most airport terminals, just not in secure areas. If the gun was loaded, and he did not have permit that may be illigal, or if NC classified it as a demonstration.
 

DMK

New member
He was charged with "going armed in terror of the public", which is a vague NC law that on the surface does not seem to apply here, especially since he had an empty holster. This charge is usually used against folks who OC a gun or are carrying a scary rifle in public.

It sounds like they couldn't find any appropriate law to charge him with so they threw this catch-all at him to see if it sticks. I wouldn't be surprised if he got a decent lawyer to beat it.

That said, his behavior was a bit odd and disturbing.
 

zxcvbob

New member
He's screwed.

His real crime is having the wrong last name (even tho' it is spelled different.) Of course they can't actually charge him with that, so they are grasping for anything that might stick. And it will stick.
 

Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
wally626 said:
Except in a state like New York a gun in the trunk will not get you arrested. Depending on the state it may have to be unloaded, but the gun itself is not an issue. You can have a cased unloaded gun in most airport terminals, just not in secure areas. If the gun was loaded, and he did not have permit that may be illigal, or if NC classified it as a demonstration.


In NY state, a gun in your trunk will not get you arrested. A gun in your passenger seat will not get you arrested.

Firearms (handguns) do not have to be unloaded and cased in an airport terminal (in NY). They do have to be concealed.
 

ncpatriot

New member
Armed to Terror of the Public is largely why few people OC here. It is a broad and vague statute that can be applied to many situations. I see a few store and gas station managers/clerks doing OC. They usually are safe, being on their own premises and customers are free to go elsewhere. I use to see a few fishermen OC at lakes & rivers, haven't see it in recent years. Hunters are OK, some carry pistols to spook game or signal each other.

News articles haven't mentioned it, but having blue police lights on a private vehicle is illegal in NC too. May be a felony, not sure. This guy had also been warned before in OH about his behavior with carrying weapons. Seems he frightened someone in a minor traffic dispute or some such.
 

Doc Intrepid

New member
And the lesson learned is:

"If you want to go see Obama take off, don't park your REACT-ride in the rental return lot, and get out dressed like a cop with an empty holster to walk over to the tarmac fence. Especially if your name is McVey and you're carrying bogus ID."



The best lessons in life are painful, humiliating, or expensive...and I suspect this guy is going to learn that in one or more ways in the very near future.
 

rdmallory

New member
I am guessing they did him a favor and kept him from hurting himself.

Or some BG taking him out thinking he is a LEO with an empty holster. It would not surprise me if he had no ammo even in the vehicle.


Doug
 

LOUcifer

New member
In NY state, a gun in your trunk will not get you arrested. A gun in your passenger seat will not get you arrested.

Firearms (handguns) do not have to be unloaded and cased in an airport terminal (in NY). They do have to be concealed.

HUGE difference when talking about "upstate" NY and NYC or even Long Island...Long Island and NYC you can very easily be locked up for various gun related crimes especially if you do not have the appropriate licensing to own the firearm (Handguns NOT Long guns)

And a gun ON your passenger seat not IN the passenger seat will TOTALLY get you locked up on Long Island or in NYC...AND it's a felony...you can't have a weapon in the passenger compartment of a vehicle unless your a concealed weapons license holder and even then it must be CONCEALED...NOT displayed on the front seat of your vehicle...if you can get away with that upstate then congrats...but the law is NOT the same everywhere. People in Illinois can own handguns but Chicago can not...just an example.

I drove with shotguns and bolt action rifles in my trunk all the time...I never did anything to get pulled over to begin with but if those long guns were handguns I would have been thrown in jail in a heartbeat especially in Queens where NYC is WAY more restrictive of hand guns.

Upstaters have way more flexibility when it comes to gun ownership.
 
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