Popular Posts

Friday, April 22, 2016

Man who landed gyrocopter on Capitol lawn gets 4 months

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida man who landed a one-person gyrocopter on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington in 2015 as a stunt to protest the influence of money in politics was sentenced Thursday to spend four months in jail.

In sentencing 62-year-old Douglas Hughes, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said he displayed a total lack of concern for his safety or that of others. She said he knowingly violated airspace restrictions around the nation’s capital, some of the most restricted U.S. airspace, and didn’t seem to appreciate how dangerous his actions were. It was only by chance that no one was harmed, she said at a hearing, which lasted hours.

Hughes has said his April 15, 2015, flight in the bare-bones aircraft was a way to call attention to the influence of big money in politics and protest government corruption. The former mail carrier from Ruskin, Florida, was carrying letters for each member of Congress on the topic of campaign finance and the tail of his aircraft displayed a postal service logo.

More

5 comments:

  1. Judge is an idiot - his flight was probably one of the safest activities that happens downtown!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ridiculous. Technically speaking the WH belongs to everyone. Yes he flew in protected space but he landed without hurting anyone or do damage to the WH structure. He gets four months yet what Hillary Clinton has done doesn't warrant her disqualification from a primary? This country is truly backwards.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 12:28 It was the Capital not the WH, speaking of backward.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I know there's nothing high enough around there to jump off ..... But a hang glider would have been ok .. No motor or anything to blow up ! I wish the Potomac went up farther I'd try to dock my work boat on the front lawn

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.