Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Gyro-Copter Lands on West Lawn of U.S. Capitol, Pilot Arrested

The U.S. Capitol Police have arrested a single occupant of a gyro copter that landed on the west lawn of t‎he U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, a Florida mailman was trying to deliver a message on campaign reform to Congress. The U.S. Capitol Police continues to investigate and there are temporary street closures in the immediate area.
Capitol Police have not confirmed the identity of the pilot of the craft who was arrested.
But Doug Hughes, a 61-year-old mailman from Ruskin, Florida sent an email recently to WFLA as well as other local media claiming that he intended to fly a gyro copter and deliver 535 letters to Washington DC.
"The letters are addressed to every individual member of Congress. I'm the pilot," Hughes wrote in the email.
"What's unique and newsworthy is the delivery. I'm going to land my gyro on the front lawn of the Capitol Building at the top end of the National Mall," Hughes said. "The issue is important enough to defy the no-fly zone and risk life and limb, and my freedom in pursuit of an honest government that represents the people."          
A small helicopter lands on the West Lawn of the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, April 15, 2015. Police arrested a man who steered his tiny, one-person helicopter onto the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, astonishing spring tourists and prompting a temporary lockdown of the Capitol Visitor Center. (Sam Smith via AP)

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