A Florida mailman landed a small gyrocopter on the lawn of the US Capitol on Wednesday, in an act of protest against the influence of money in politics.
Pilot Doug Hughes, 61, landed on the lawn without incident and was immediately taken into custody by police.
Hughes told the Tampa Bay Times what he was going to do before his illegal flight and landing. He said he had strapped 535 letters to the gyrocopter, intending to deliver them to every member of Congress and argue for campaign finance reform.
“I don’t believe the authorities will shoot down a 61-year-old mailman in a flying bicycle,” he told the paper before his flight.
Hughes, of Ruskin, Florida, said he planned to inform authorities “well over an hour in advance of getting to the no-fly zone, so they know who I am and what I’m doing”.
In a statement, Tampa Bay Times managing editor Jennifer Orsi said the paper called the secret service shortly after Hughes took off “to ask whether they were aware that a man was flying toward the Capitol in a gyrocopter and ask for comment”. The agency told the paper they had not heard of a protest; a spokesperson told the Guardian “we are not making any comment at this time” and referred questions to Capitol police.
Capitol police did not immediately respond to a question of whether they had in fact received warning from Hughes about his flight, but spokeswoman Lieutenant Kimberly Schneider confirmed in an email that police sent a bomb squad to investigate the gyrocopter, and closed streets and sidewalks around the Capitol. The vehicle was then moved to “a secure location”.
Charges are pending for “the man in police custody”, Schneider said, without identifying Hughes.
Source Article from https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/News/174570-2015-04-16-special-delivery-florida-mailman-lands-gyrocopter-on-capitol-lawn.htm?EdNo=001&From=RSS
Special delivery: Florida mailman lands gyrocopter on Capitol lawn
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