Loud And Proud

If this incident had occured in a Florida airport, this man would have come down with a severe case of lead poisoning:

A man was stunned with a Taser, sprayed with a chemical irritant, hit with a baton and eventually tackled by airport police Thursday after he was seen at the Humphrey terminal holding what appeared to be a plunger used to detonate a bomb, according to court documents.

Taye Birmachu, 50, of Minneapolis, was charged with one count of terroristic threats Monday in Hennepin County District Court. After the arrest, police found that Birmachu had no explosives on him, said Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman Pat Hogan.

According to the complaint, Birmachu was wearing several layers of protective clothing and had wires that extended from a black device he was carrying into his sleeve and jacket. He ignored police orders to drop his devices. He showed no effects when he was stunned, sprayed with an irritant and hit with a baton. Eventually, several officers wrestled him to the ground. At the same time, other officers were evacuating the airport terminal.

Birmachu told authorities he wore the clothes to make the statement that he is willing to die for his convictions, according to court papers.

What those convictions were remain tantalizingly unknown, as they aren't mentioned in the article. What could they have been? The right to terrorise?

Patience is a virtue. If he'd just been willing to wait a little while longer, and threaten us a little harder, we might have given him free flight training -- or at least a seat in first class.

(Via Baron.)