Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Geez, Revere, what kind of crowd you been hanging with at these town halls?

Newsmax:

Man With Gun Arrested Outside Obama's Town Hall
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 8:07 AM

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- A man arrested at the site of President Barack Obama's New Hampshire town hall Tuesday was carrying an unlicensed loaded gun, police said.

Richard Terry Young, 62, was arrested inside Portsmouth High School at about 9:40 a.m., long before the president arrived in Portsmouth, Seacoastline.com reported. He faces misdemeanor charges, including trespass and a weapons charge.

Hundreds of protesters greeted Obama.

The demonstrators gathered near Portsmouth High School appeared to be equally divided between supporters and detractors of the president's healthcare proposals to cover millions of uninsured Americans and bring health costs under control, USA Today reported.

Obama discussed aspects of his initiative, such as what it means for people with health coverage and consumer protection mechanisms. Obama also focused on his goal of ending denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions.

Some of the anti-Obama protesters gathered as early as 6 a.m., carrying handmade signs that spoke of rationing, socialism and death panels, while supporters from pro-Obama organizations such as Organizing for America and Healthcare for America later showed up in buses, USA Today said.

I'm really upset about what's happening in this country, protester Gordon Cavis, 60, told the newspaper, claiming the health plan amounts to subverting the Constitution on the same level as Richard Nixon.

4 comments:

revereridesagain said...

Oh shit. There it is -- the reason the motorcade was cancelled. I heard nothing about this incident the whole 5 hours I was there, which is suprising because news spread up and down that line pretty fast. I also heard that the parking lot was briefly closed about that time, don't know if that is connected. The cops probably kept it very quiet because if that got out it could have been incendiary. Could this actually be the guy who was allegedly "roughed up"?

I should've stayed at the high school end of the line, apparently all the action was down there. But where I was had more shade.

Saw one good use of MOB on a sign: Minding Our Business.

revereridesagain said...

Mystery solved -- seems the Secret Service arrested the guy inside the high school after they found a knife on him, then searched his car in the lot and found the gun. None of this made it to the crowd outside far as I know, which is probably just as well because that could have started real trouble for no good reason.

midnight rider said...

Arrested him for a knife, gun was in the car.

Why arrest for the knife UNLESS he was a threat? I can understand not wanting a knife in the building while the President is there but arrest? Escort him out, or confiscate (temporarily) the knife.

This, of course, from a guy who carries 4 or more knives at a time.

revereridesagain said...

Now they are showing video of a guy openly wearing a holstered gun up at the end of the crowd near the school. I do not know if this is supposed to be the same guy. Seacoastonline.com news specifically says the guy arrested was Richard Terry Young of Hampton, that he was found inside the HS carrying a pocket knife and that a subsequent search of his vehicle revealed the loaded gun. The guardian.uk.com (yeah, they were there) specifies and has a photo of a William Kostnic holding a sign "It is Time to Water the Tree of Liberty" with a loaded pistol strapped to his thigh. I remember this guy though I didn't notice the gun at the time.

Anyway, the lack of motorcade is now explained and I'm really surprised we didn't hear about all this sooner.