Gyrocopter man

[scottobear]

Florida resident Doug Hughes flew his gyrocopter to Washington, D.C. and landed it on the west front lawn of the Capitol building on Wednesday.

MORE: Police arrest Florida man who landed small helicopter on U.S. Capitol lawn http://t.co/9wYB28jTOo pic.twitter.com/lBBCyztUqJ

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 15, 2015

He reportedly flew the contraption to Washington to compel lawmakers to pay attention to the issue of campaign finance reform. So far, his stunt has drawn the attention of Capitol Police, who responded to the scene and apprehended Hughes. The Capitol Police bomb squad promptly started investigating the scene.

“The U.S. Capitol Police continues to investigate with one person detained and temporary street closures in the immediate area,” the Capitol Police said in a statement.

Gyrocopter man is a mailman, so of course the vertical stabilizer on his gyrocopter has the USPS logo on it pic.twitter.com/QYsftj2lic

— Ethan Klapper (@ethanklapper) April 15, 2015

Hughes, who works as a mailman, drove his gyrocopter from Florida to an area outside of Washington last week, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He apparently made the short flight to Washington with 535 two-page letters, one for each member of Congress.

“I’m demanding reform and declaring a voter’s rebellion in a manner consistent with Jefferson’s description of rights in the Declaration of Independence,” Hughes wrote in the letters. “As a member of Congress, you have three options. 1. You may pretend corruption does not exist. 2. You may pretend to oppose corruption while you sabotage reform. 3. You may actively participate in real reform.”

Hughes told the Times that the U.S. Secret Service questioned him last year about his plans. Even so, he was willing to violate the law and fly his vehicle to the Capitol for his cause.

“I don’t believe that the authorities are going to shoot down a 61-year-old mailman in a flying bicycle,” he said. “I don’t have any defense, okay, but I don’t believe that anybody wants to personally take responsibility for the fallout.”

Shortly after Hughes’ landing, President Obama was briefed about the incident, a White House official told CBS News. The official stressed that the briefing does not suggest that Hughes’ flight was a national security matter, just that it was an event worth noting to the president.

As Roll Call points out, this isn’t the first time this sort of vehicle has flown around the Capitol. The late Sen. Hiram Bingham, an explorer and aviation enthusiast who served in the Senate from 1924 through 1933, liked to fly his autogyro around the Capitol as well.

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.