Update on protestor with assault rifle at Obama event in Phoenix

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic reported Saturday that "The man who drew international attention by bringing an assault rifle to President Barack Obama's rally on Monday is a Phoenix resident with ties to several anti-government or Nativist groups." Protester with assault rifle at Obama rally ID'd "The man, who until now has been identified only as "Chris B," is actually 28-year-old Christopher Broughton, a former employee of a Tempe plastic-mold manufacturer."

"I want attention brought to the ideas that I espouse," Broughton told The Arizona Republic, which confirmed his identity through relatives and former co-workers on Friday. "I don't think the political process works anymore. It is done. . . . This government is the most corrupt Mafioso on the face of the Earth."

Broughton, who reluctantly acknowledged that he was the gun-toting Chris B., shares membership in the same right-wing group as William Kostric, the man who brought a handgun to an Obama rally in New Hampshire last week.

Broughton and Kostric are both listed as "team members" of the Arizona chapter of We the People Foundation, which calls for "resistance . . . against unconstitutional or illegal behavior by government officials."

In New Hampshire, Kostric stood outside the Obama town-hall meeting with a gun strapped to his thigh, holding a sign proclaiming, "It is time to water the tree of liberty," a reference to Thomas Jefferson's famous call for vigilance: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots."

Broughton said the two armed protests were not connected. Broughton said the rifle he brought to the Phoenix rally, a loaded AR-15, is a symbol of resistance, the modern-day equivalent of a pitchfork that citizens once took up in opposition to oppressive political leaders.

"It's as simple as this. The people who support government, the ones who like government, they are using government like a weapon," he said. "The government continues to take over more and more things."

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He said he belongs to several groups that have anti-government leanings.

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Broughton's appearance at the rally was part of a publicity stunt organized by Ernest Hancock, a well-known Arizona Libertarian and host of conservative talk radio show "Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock." Hancock also came to the rally armed.

They staged the "publicity stunt" with the help of two local Libertarian groups that have worked with the man on Ron Paul's presidential campaign. Obama protester's rifle part of 'publicity stunt'

Before attending a pro-Obama health-care reform rally outside the Phoenix Convention Center, "Chris B" met with members of RP4409 and Freedom's Phoenix. That is according to Freedom's Phoenix Publisher Ernest Hancock, who is credited with coining and designing the logo for the "Ron Paul r3VOLution."

In a YouTube video, Chris displays his semi-automatic rifle which he says "aids me in my resistance efforts."

"We will forcefully resist people imposing their will on us through the strength of the majority with a vote," Chris later tells an Obama supporter in the video. "Just because you sic the government on people doesn't make it morally OK to steal money from people. Taxation is theft."

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Ernest Hancock said he is a Valley resident, an independent conservative and a John Birch Society member.

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Hancock told CNN's Rick Sanchez on Tuesday that the gun display was planned well in advance. Hancock met with a Phoenix police officer last week, informing him that he and others in his group planned to bring firearms.

When Sanchez suggested many people would see it as a "publicity stunt," Hancock responded: "Absolutely."

The Arizona Republic editorialized about the incident with this opinion Yankee Doodle zealots should keep guns at home:

Beautiful.

Arizona gets a visit from the president of the United States and, a day later, the national headlines are trained on 12 attention-starved exhibitionists showing off their rifles and revolvers.

If that weren't embarrassing enough, we got the full tricorn and twaddle of these wannabe Patrick Henrys. "We will forcefully resist people imposing their will on us through the strength of the majority," said one.

And so, Arizona's profile grows in the national eye. Land of sunsets, saguaros, assault rifles and Yankee Doodle.

Within living memory, we've had one president assassinated, one seriously wounded and one who escaped two assassination attempts. No wonder Americans are agog that a dozen people in Arizona thought it wise to strap on revolvers and parade around a U.S. president.

Anyone who believes in responsible gun ownership should worry. These armed protesters shot themselves in the foot and the kneecap and the thigh and noggin.

Dave Kopel, a gun-rights expert at the Independence Institute in Colorado, told the Christian Science Monitor that protesters are "trying to make a statement about Second Amendment rights, but they're doing it in a way that probably sets back that cause."

Even to KFYI radio, stalwart defenders of the Second Amendment, it all went way beyond the pale. Talk host Mike Broomhead, to his good credit, put a blowtorch to these loons. "When you bring the rifle, nobody cares about anything else! Just the rifle!"

One of the gun-toting patriots at the president's speech aired his grievances on a YouTube video. Showing off his AR-15 rifle, he talked about "forcefully" resisting, and told an Obama supporter, "Just because you sic the government on people doesn't make it morally OK to steal money from people. Taxation is theft."

Give it a rest, pal. This is how civilized society works: If you don't like how much you pay in taxes, there's a way to change that. Go and do the hard work of electing candidates who will make your case.

But to strap on a rifle and spew your threats tells us two things about you. One, you're lazy. Two, you're a thug.

It almost makes one long for "the good old days" (sic) when one could get a visit from the Secret Service and get arrested just for wearing an anti-Bush T-shirt. firstamendmentcenter.org: news (selection):

Government to pay $80K to pair arrested for anti-Bush T-shirts
Nicole and Jeffrey Rank were charged with trespassing at July 4, 2004, presidential rally at West Virginia Capitol after they refused to cover up shirts. 08.17.07

Utah man's anti-Bush sticker prompts visit by Secret Service
Agent confirms that 19-year-old Derek Kjar was investigated, ruled out as threat to president. 09.04.04

Secret Service: GOP operative removed 3 from Bush event
Man's name isn't released; attorney for self-described Colorado progressives says he's getting 'run-around,' sends letter asking U.S. attorney general to launch investigation. 03.31.05

Woman kicked off flight over anti-Bush T-shirt
Lorrie Heasley says she plans to file civil rights complaint against Southwest Airlines. 10.08.05

Pa. protesters say anti-Bush signs got them in trouble
Police contend men, whose trial is scheduled for this month, were arrested only after they refused to stop blocking people's views of parade. 01.07.07

And whatever happened to the Bush Administration's fabulous "Free Speech Zones" where peaceful protestors (unarmed) were caged like animals and surrounded by police, well away from where President Bush was appearing? Good times, good times (sarcasm).