Man with a Gun Near Obama Rally -- Hell No!

There is a man with a gun near an Obama rally. Here is the video. This is insane!

Did you see his sign? "It Is Time to Water the Tree of Liberty." That is from this Jefferson quote:

And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

This is the same exact quote Tim McVeigh was referencing in a shirt he wore... before bombing the Oklahoma City federal building.

Now, imagine if there was left-winger with a gun waiting for Bush holding a sign that the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood tyrants? How long would that guy have lasted? You think they'd let him just sit there and wait for Bush? And say, "Hey, it's perfectly legal!"

Is anyone stupid or disingenuous enough to believe that? They would have taken his ass down in a flat second. They would have infiltrated whatever group he belonged to and monitored his ass for the rest of time.

Now imagine he was Muslim and waiting for Bush with a gun. What do you think would have happened then?

Watch Young Turks Here

PS -- One more thought. What happens the next time two of these guys show up at an Obama rally? How about ten of them? Twenty?

Follow Cenk Uygur on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks

Comments

[opprobrious]

Guess how many people currently living in the US want to shoot the president? Do you think it's more likely that it's just a handful of "kooks"OR do you think it's a large number of "concerned citizens"?

Bringing a gun to a presidential event is a distraction for the Secret Service. If enough people bring guns, it becomes a big distraction for the Secret Service AND much easier for some "patriot" to fulfill his/her dream.

[muffet11]

Let's hope the Secret Service is smart enough to plant a few of their own gun toters in the crowds. Has this guy even been identified? There could be alot more to this...

[OdinsEye]

The guys were not near the President to be a threat to him. The USSS were fully aware of their presence, as was the local police. Neither expressed any concern with the guys being where they were.

[stick458]

If the Secret Service had viewed this guy as a threat, they would have taken him out. They would not consult Obama about. Clearly he posed no threat, and what he was doing was perfectly legal. Exactly the same protocol in any administration. And, faith is irrelevant in this scenario.

[Design4you]

By him bringing a gun to a town hall rally was completely out of line and unnecessary. Just because you CAN do it doesn't mean you SHOULD do it. There is a reason that most public buildings have signs that tell you that your gun is not allowed. Most people should be allowed to own and carry a hand gun, but there are a few who should not. Only the future will show which type of person that this guy is.

[Grada3784]

Faith irrelevant in this scenario? Really?

When the Bullshies were practically paranoid on the subject at times? When the holy Merikans emulated Sodom over anyone wearing a turban after 9/11?

[MikeRdg]

Some of the gun totters are militia.

I hope they do not ruin the right for people to have the right to guns, not every area is urban.

Freeman Institute.­..........­.... enough said.

[OdinsEye]

The rumor that some of them belonged to the Viper Militia is false.

[MikeRdg]

Here is a quick study, things people do not know about militias. People are strongly influenced by the 'talk' they hear around the camp fire -- a manner of speaking, or what they have been taught at church. Sadly, groups can be manipulated by others on the fringes, without the majority of the group knowing, and being unaware of others agendas.

here is some background on Militias.

So is Cleon Skousen, former FBI agent and chief of police for
Salt Lake City. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s he had close ties
with "establishment" right-wing movements and then founded the
Freemen Institute. He has now renamed it the National Center for
Constitutional Studies. He told the Salt Lake City Tribune that "I
found some people (in the Institute) becoming military minded and
calling themselves Freemen. We had to change the name." Skousen
also insisted that "We need to clearly distinguish between people who
are trying to understand what's happening to government, and may be
critical of some of the adventures it's taken in the past 75 years . . .
and those people who can't stand talking about it and have to get out
and do something."

Skousen supports militias, though, and so does his friend
Samuel Sherwood. He founded the Constitutional Militia Association
in Idaho, which spread to several other states and boasted 1,500
members. The group was apparently infiltrated by
more "radical" types from organizations like Aryan Nations, and
Sherwood disbanded it.

http://www.skepticfiles.org/moretext/mm.htm

[MikeRdg]

If one wonders why Glenn Beck can talk about killing people, he disagrees with, it is part of 'church' talk, I don't care what they say otherwise, it is.

"Samuel Sherwood's statement last March threatening to shoot Idaho state legislators for supporting federal mandates such as the Endangered Species Act."

Sadly, these people are used for political desires of the LDS church.

[cminca]

Listen to the guy on the interview.

The gun makes the guy feel like a big man.

I'm guessing he's compensating for something else. Sometimes a cigar ISN'T just a cigar.

[damyanky]

Your statement is probably correct. He very likely feels sexually threatened by any Black man and a Black man in power makes it worse. In addition, he is clearly excited by the attention. However, it doesn't matter why. Having gotten away with it, he is now emboldened. It took a lot of nerve to carry that gun in that location and now he might take a bigger chance the next time. Further, and perhaps more dangerous, he has given ideas and courage to A LOT of wingnuts who need attention and fame and hate Pres. Obama, not politically but just because he is Black and he breathes. It would be a good thing if these town hall meetings would just stop. They serve only the crazies and are not promoting rational discourse and disagreement.

[OdinsEye]

"He very likely feels sexually threatened by any Black man and a Black man in power makes it worse."

Are you talking about the Black man with the rifle?

[barackobama4prez]

We can't let them win. They want to bully and terrorize and shut down the process. But I fear it will take bloodshed for law enforcement to get the message.

[TRYKER]

If nothing else, the gun toter was planting seeds.
Look Dick look, you can bring a gun to a rally, look Jane look.
Next time there will be 20 and the next 40....

[valkyrie607]

Okay, so the guy wasn't breaking the law.

The question remains: WHY bring a gun to a public forum?

The ONLY plausible reason is for intimidation of one's political opponents.

[-0013]

The ONLY plausible reason? I hope you never get put on a jury.

[valkyrie607]

So, why would YOU bring a gun to a public forum?

[OdinsEye]

He was never in the forum. He was outside, in a designated rally area, which is a place where people shout and wave signs, but to not discuss anything.

[TamChin]

Is anyone noticing how the Right is Talibinizing our nation? It's attempting to dictate a conservative and non-negotiable way of thinking and behaving, imposing the ideas of some onto all. If a person objects or thinks differently, they are dehumanized from a person into an infidel - which in America is "Socialist."
I declare, American Taliban Radio and its Ayatollahs and Imams (Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, et al.) are less freedom oriented and more 'conform or else' oriented. If you leave the faith, it's off with your head. If you transgress, you have to kiss the Ayatollah's butt and seek forgiveness (See Steele/Limbaugh).
I think it's time we start using language back at 'em, and call them American Taliban and right wing terrorists. It's what they are morphing into - let's name it.

[-0013]

Yeah! Right on! Then maybe you can make funny faces at them or stick your tongue out. Maybe you could prank call these people or ring their doorbells and then run away.

Stick it to 'em!

[Kiri sute gomen]

I agree that more accurate language needs to be used. I also agree the behavior in both groups carry many parallels.

[Pupadup4oBama]

abso-freakin'loutly BRILLIANT!
Thank you!!!

[realpolitic]

The Secret Service should have escorted this man away from the event. I do not care if it is legal to carry a weapon in that state. It is just not a good idea to do it near a presidential event. It ties up too many law enforcement personnel watching the guy. When Americans have to take guns to political events it is a sad day. Might does not make right!

[Dimensio]

Mr. Kostnic was not at the event. He was in fact outside of the security perimeter established by the United States Secret Service. Had he attempted to approach the event while in possession of his firearm he would have been denied entry or arrested.

[S1m0n]

"Liberty's Natural Manure" is the best term yet for talk radio.

[Pupadup4oBama]

exactly!
BTW Love your puppy pic...:)

[JeZeus]

“Most recently, a man was filmed openly carrying a handgun outside of President Obama's town hall meeting in New Hampshire. He held a sign that read, "IT IS TIME TO WATER THE TREE OF LIBERTY!" a reference to the following Thomas Jefferson quote: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."”

“Then, on August 7, an anti-health care reform protester in New Mexico named Scott Oskay Tweeted to his hundreds of followers to bring their licensed concealed handguns to town hall meetings, adding, "If ACORN/SEIU attends these townhalls for disruption, stop being peaceful, and hurt them. Badly."”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-horwitz/handguns-and-health-care_b_255839.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/11/chris-matthews-to-town-ha_n_256952.html

Why are either of these two men walking around free today? They both have committed assault with a deadly weapon. While it might be legal for them to have a gun, the tweet of one man and the sign of the other indicate intent to do harm with the guy in New Hampshire threatening both the counter protesters in attendance, as well as the President and by extension the whole country as well.

(Historically, laws treated the threat of physical injury as "assault", and the completed act of physical contact or offensive touching as “battery.” http://www.statelawyers.com/Practice/Practice_Detail.cfm/PracticeTypeID:10)

[OdinsEye]

"They both have committed assault with a deadly weapon"

Incorrect.

[phylliscooper1]

This guy wanted to become the next "Joe". This time it is Joe, the Gun Toter. And, as usual, it worked. He has been interviewed by various news outlets and will probably write a book, that people will actually purchase. The squeaky wheel phenomena continues.

[Puck342]

Chris Matthews, who, you are right, shouldn't have given this guy the time on his show, did say it right though: Even if it was his right, how could he say that he could, without a doubt, protect his gun from another nut just running up, grabbing it and firing. It's not just that he becomes dangerous, everyone around the gun-toter then has access to a gun as well

[rbenjamin]

There is clearly a double standard at work here, but under the circumstances this was probably wise. Law enforcement kept a low profile, but it's wrong to assume they were passive. By all accounts the gun toter was under constant surveillance and remained glued to one spot. By all accounts he never posed a threat to the President. Had he moved from private to public space you can bet he would have been detained within seconds. It's equally reasonable to assume that Federal snipers had multiple cross hairs centered on the toter's head - and that had he drawn his piece he would have been dead before he hit the ground. Had such a confrontation occurred it could have been the spark to ignite the powder keg of the delusional radical right, leading to the 10 or 20 gunslingers at every political rally mentioned in the post.

As the Chris Matthews interview on MSNBC showed, the gun toting protester was an attention seeker who could only explain his actions by spouting Palin-Drones (streams of random libertarian catch phrases, not the sentences that read the same backwards and forwards). This nut was looking to start trouble, but why help him? The Obama team isn't the Bush team. That is a good thing. No drama Obama. My conclusion is that the professionals acted profession­ally....an­d that the protester is going to have a lot of discrete company fin his foreseeable future, not the media fame he craves.

[Rmath]

Brandishing a weapon outside a presidential rally isn't making a point, it's intimidation.

Tell you what, ctom. Go march up and down in front of your local beat cop with your gun on display and your protest signs. Let me know how that goes for you when you make bail.

[Vernondelray]

You don't have to "make bail" for something that is NOT a crime. The man committed No crime. New Hampshire law allows carrying a weapon as long as it is NOT concealed. I saw the interview by Mathews, and this man owned Mathews, who tried to provoke an unreasoned response but could not.

[dwillisno1]

This guy was fairly bright and avoided saying anything really dumb, bu he didn't own Mathews or anyone else. What he owned was his 15 minutes and the ability to say that his deliberate provocation and swaggery posturing was legal. Extremely dumb, irrelevant and unnecessary but legal. Whoopi Ding!

[TRYKER]

Nice try, no cigar...the man didn't own Mathews. period.

[standard]

(1) Actually, if you're arrested and then granted the opportunity to post bail, you WOULD have to "make bail" and you'd probably want to--ESPECIALLY if what you were arrested for wasn't a crime. (Improper arrests can happen, which is precisely why we have bail, trial courts and judges.)

(2) The laws of New Hampshire are real but only one part of the legal picture--not the end of all legal analysis. The open-carry guy's rights aren't absolute and he was doing himself no favor--and may have been pushing his luck--by asserting them while carrying a belligerent sign to a Presidential event. During the Bush43 administration, people's First Amendment rights didn't get them near the President if the slogans on their t-shirts didn't pass muster. (Last I knew, annual close-range t-shirt deaths in America were far outpaced by those related to firearms.)