Ham Arrested at NC Airport

The guy has "issues", not the least of which is he is a W A N N A B E. He will get probation and counseling when all is siad and done. Betcha

 

Not going to pass judgement on K8JSM

N7WR I dont disagree with you. At the least common sense training may play a role in the future. Lets say that he had the mind set as follows... I wanna try to see the president maybe at least airforce one so I drive to N.C., Now lets say im not a police officer but I have a concealed carry permit well it is a long trip and since I have the permit and N.C. honors my permit I might as well take my weapon.

So off I drive to N.C. and I get to the airport well no signs that say I cant have my weapon in the parking lot so I might as well park and see if I get a glimps of at least the plane.

I know I know that was hypothetical. But if he has been released from jail and he isnt going to be charged and im not even sure of that at this point because there has not been a complete accurate representation of the facts from A to Z then perhaps he didnt have the intent to cause a problem.

Yes he has shown some shall we say extreme behaviour in the past and Im hoping this was the last lessoned to be learned concerning his past behaviour.

Like I said before Ive never talked to him Ive heard him on the local repeater a couple of times. He always seemed willing to help new hams and was always a chatter. With that said I cant say one way or the other what he is like personally I never met him but as it stands now if he has been released then I would venture to say they did not find his intent to be criminal. But we will have to wait and see if his June court date stands or all charges were dismissed My final is when he gets back and if he calls me on a local repeater I would answer him and being in L.E. I would be glad to give him future advice as we all should.

 

Probation for what?
Last I heard he hasn't violated any laws.

 

There are a few things we can all agree on here. 1. Showing up anywhere the president and demanding to see him, not wise. 2. Having a gun on you while doing it, down right stupid. The other stuff will go on and on, but I'm going to stay out of it.

 

Do you have a source for this?

 

I didn't get that he demanded to see the president, he just wanted to visually see him get on or off the plane, as a lot of people do. He wasn't asking for some sort of meeting.

 

K8JSM de W8AJL

Sean my boy I dont know ya but when you get back to Ohio call me on the repeater I will still talk to ya and I dont even know ya

 

His divorced mother and step father live in Ashville, so he probably went there ostensibly to see them. Not to chase tornadoes or the President's weekend Billy Graham visit.

Probably stems from boredom from living in the middle of nowhere.....out in the country. If you live in the country, you better know how to use some form of firearm. For protection from critters if nothing else.


.....

If he has a good attorney (maybe one from ARRL or better yet, the NRA) he should be able to get the charge dropped. Since he either wasn't wearing it, or if he was, he just inadvertently got out of his car. He wasn't brandishing it in any way.

I'd like to hear more about why they first had charged him with impersonating an officer. That sounds like to me that they saw his car and all the antennas, LED bars, etc., went up to him and saw the pistol or searched the vehicle and discovered it. They then phonied up the part about his driver's license. Or, through their own hyperglycemia from too many donuts, made an error entering the number into their terminal. Or, their dispatcher did. Why wasn't his concealed-carry permit mentioned? I'm sure he had that on him.
And, why all the noise about the "table of data for scope inclinations," etc? He could have had a rifle manual in the car, for that matter. No rifle, no credible reason to claim that had some sinister purpose.

I suspect its a combination of airport cops trying to impress the secret service and get an atta-boy; and disdain for cars with antennas that might just be "listening in" when a squad car gets a call to go to Krispy Kreme and pick up the donuts.

 

I hate to say this but to me I think they were holding him on bogus charges just to give him a look over to see if he was a threat

 

table of data for scope inclinations I bet they were local repeater frequencies hee heee hee

 

I am repulsed by the idea that some of my ARRL dues money should be used to hire a lawyer to defend him. In my opinion if he was not packing.......he never would have ended up in jail or charged. And that is on him.......not on us. If the NRA wants to pay for his defence.........so be it. Probably a better use of their funds than some that I have seen. But I do not want money which I donate to the League to defend our frequency resource and the ability to make use of them to be used in this instance. Any thinking individual knows full well he didn't end up in jail for talking on the local 2 meter repeater no matter how many antennas his vehicle sported. W6EM if you want to subsidise his defence go ahead. I am sure that your generosity with your own money would be greatly appreciated..

 

I bet it was repeaters w/offsets... 6.66 -, 7.18 +, 5.42 -, 6.52, 6.88 -, etc.

I would like to see the "tables"

Chris

 

I can see you've never dealt with them over anything with respect to "ARRL Counsel." They don't necessarily volunteer their time. Most don't, as I recall. It's up to them. W4PG could fill you in with more details, if you'd like.

I'm not so sure. They did arrest him supposedly, according to one news account, for impersonating an officer. I'd be willing to bet a spare 2M radio that it was the antenna menagere that got their attention, not his red Pontiac Grand Am. (Hint: ARRL sanctioned wackers usually have magnetic ARES signs on their doors)

The books are full of examples of cops pulling hams over with antennas if their states have anti-scanner laws. The FCC finally issued a declaratory ruling to try to stop the harassment.

If it turns out that the holster and hand gun were lying inside the vehicle, whether on a seat, the floor, under a seat, or in the trunk, he's got, IMO, a good false arrest claim. Since he has/had at the time a valid CC permit with NC reciprocity. Maybe not as clear if he was actually wearing it. Dumber than dumb, if he was.

Again, if these airport constables have donut holes in their story, they will show up. After we hear from him through his lawyer. Stay tuned.

ARRL does need to recognize, however, that there still are LEOs out there who don't see us and our 'ham sexy' vehicles in a positive way. Like I said before, anyone thought capable of listening to LE channels represents a potential critic/witness to their activities. Both right and wrong, whichever the case may be.

And, historically, hams have been cited, if not outright arrested, for having VHF/UHF equipment in their mobiles.

 

So be it, but that is what the local (Asheville) AM (WWNC) and television station (WLOS) were reporting.

W6EM:

I agree. I was listening to the airport cops when they first started looking for a "suspect in the woodline" with no description, etc. Later, they were all making arrangements for posing in front of AF One, etc. They sounded like clowns for the most part.

 

Apparently the guy is out on bail now.

http://www.coshoctontribune.com/article/20100427/NEWS01/4270305/McVey-posts-bond-leaves-N.C.-jail