Gyrocopter lands on Capital lawn

[denverpilot]

I guess he felt he needed some criminal street-cred to fit in in congress.

You lose your voting rights as a felon. Doesn't that also include the right to be elected?

Nope.

http://www.factcheck.org/2008/11/felons-in-office/

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

[url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-landed-gyrocopter-u-capitol-gets-120-days-211452421.html?nhp=1]120 days[/URL]

 

[PaulS]

I hope he wins.

 

[NoHeat]

120 days? That's a victory for security theater.

The prosecutor's take on the sentencing was clearly all about sending messages:

Quote from the article a while back in the thread:

"Whether the next airspace violator is an unpopular religious extremist who wants to impact US foreign policy or a popular advocate on any issue of domestic policy, the deterrent message must be clear: If you violate the airspace of our nation's capital — regardless of your message — you will be punished because of the substantial risks to safety and national security," prosecutors wrote.​

 

[Witmo]

120 days? That's a victory for security theater.

The prosecutor's take on the sentencing was clearly all about sending messages:

Quote from the article a while back in the thread:

"Whether the next airspace violator is an unpopular religious extremist who wants to impact US foreign policy or a popular advocate on any issue of domestic policy, the deterrent message must be clear: If you violate the airspace of our nation's capital — regardless of your message — you will be punished because of the substantial risks to safety and national security," prosecutors wrote.​

While it might deter a protester and punish a lost pilot now and again, it does nothing to deter a terrorist just as all TFRs do nothing to protect us from terrorists. Does anyone think that a suicidal maniac would be deterred by the possibility of a 120 day jail term? As for "Substantial risks to safety"--what a joke.

 

[NoHeat]

While it might deter a protester and punish a lost pilot now and again, it does nothing to deter a terrorist just as all TFRs do nothing to protect us from terrorists. Does anyone think that a suicidal maniac would be deterred by the possibility of a 120 day jail term? As for "Substantial risks to safety"--what a joke.

I agree completely. The sentence was all about "security theater."

There must be a better word than "joke" to describe security theater, though. "Sham" maybe. Or "Potemkin Village".

 

[Sundancer]

If he stayed low (and pretty slow) - he probably wasn't noticed. And no big deal - at Vne and loaded with bad substances, he might/might have been able to discolor the paint on a small portion of the Capital dome. He and his aircraft just weren't much of a threat, certainly not one worth dropping mega-bucks on to prevent from happening again.