Asheville: An armed man was arrested in an airplane parking lot just after President Barack Obama’s plane departed, saying he wanted to see the president. He was to appear before a judge on Monday.
Authorities arrested Joseph Sean McVey, 23, on Sunday at the Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina.
McVey, who was carrying a sidearm, had a car equipped with police gear, including a siren and flashing lights, though he did not work in law enforcement, authorities said.
Security was heightened at the airport because President Barack Obama was leaving after vacationing in the state, headed to the memorial service for the 29 West Virginia coal miners killed in an explosion.
Obama also visited 91-year-old evangelist Billy Graham’s home after spending the weekend in Asheville.
McVey was charged with armed in terror of the public, a misdemeanour. A first appearance in court was scheduled for Monday.
At 2.00 pm on Sunday, airport police saw McVey get out of a maroon car with Ohio plates, airport police Capt. Kevan Smith said. The suspect was nowhere near the president’s plane, which had just departed.
His car was equipped with clear law enforcement-style strobe lights in the front and rear dash, Smith said. The car also had a mounted digital camera in the front window.
When McVey got out of the car, he was listening to a hand-held scanner and radio that had a remote earpiece, Smith said. Police said he was monitoring local agencies and had formulas for rifle scopes on a note in his cup holder.
McVey gave cops an Ohio driver’s license, but a computer check failed to show the number was valid, police said.
President Barack Obama, who was on his way to Beckley to attend a memorial service for 29 victims of a mine explosion in West Virginia, comforts a relative of a deceased
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