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Second Amendment Activist Arrested During Media Interview

Josey1Josey1 Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
edited February 2002 in General Discussion
Didn't someone ask what can and what can't the BATF do?The answer is any damn thing they want and if you resist they will burn your house down,falsify the reports,turn your bolt action rifle into a machine gun and tell the press you "wanted to go up in flames" by burning your own home down
Second Amendment Activist Arrested During Media InterviewA Sierra Times Report : 02.26.02
LEXINGTON - Second Amendment activist Charlie Puckett has been arrested by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, following a federal grand jury indictment, in the midst of a media interview Tuesday.According to an indictment, Puckett faces federal firearms and explosives charges. The indictment says the BATF found machine guns, explosives and other items used to make pipe bombs. Items were seized from Puckett's home in November on suspicion Puckett was a felon in possession of firearms.Puckett's attorney, Gatewood Galbraith, has maintained Puckett should have been legally able to possess firearms because the 1966 conviction pre-dates a federal law passed in 1968 on firearms and felons.In a Sierra Times November 28 report, the items reported seized by the BATF were 5 weapons: two bolt-action (single-shot) rifles, two sidearms and 1 SK-A semi-automatic rifle. There was never word any of these weapons were automatic when found -- or even if they could be made to be so.Puckett was leaving a Hilton Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky this morning, following an interview with a reporter who claimed to be an employee of The Learning Channel, according to Puckett's associate, Michael Stacner. The interview took place in the Governor's Suite at the Lexington Green Hilton on Nicholasville Rd. and New Circle Rd."The charge is emanating from the raid on his home," said Puckett's attorney, Gatewood Galbraith of Lexington. "The grand jury has indicted him. He's had an initial hearing in front of the court. A detention hearing is scheduled for Friday in federal court at 10:30 am in Lexington."Galbraith is urging that everyone remain calm. "We have an opportunity to do a tremendous amount of education," he said. "I believe we can educate people on just how levelheaded we are. There's going to be an opportunity to explain our situation many times."People are not encouraged to show up for the hearing right now. "I trust we can get him bond," Galbraith said. "They waited all this time to pick him up so they must not have felt he was too dangerous. I see no reason to upset that perspective."Galbraith feels this action may have in part been precipitated by a news story that began airing on a Lexington TV station, Channel 27, last night. It was intended to be a three-part series. The second part airs tonight.When today's action took place, the 30 or 40 BATF agents would not show a warrant and would not say why, according to Stracner. "They just said 'we've got a warrant for your arrest.' ""I asked them 'what has Charlie done.' They said 'We'll talk about it later.' I thought I'd be enjoying their company for a while too," Stracner said. "Charlie never said a word."Witnesses at the scene stated that federal agents were very weary of media attention and sought to make the arrest quick for that reason. Puckett was taken into custody without incident.Stracner was put up against a column and searched. One of the agents started to handcuff him, but only made him stand still behind the column for about 10 minutes while they loaded Puckett into a vehicle out of Stracner's sight.All kinds of vehicles were used: Blazers, jeeps, cars, "I was standing behind a pole. I did see some Ohio tags on some of them," Stracner said.Their interview had been scheduled at Galbraith's office but was changed the day before. At the end of the interview, the "reporter" mentioned that a BATF agent was coming up."As we were leaving he told us there was a BATF agent coming up for an interview. He was trying to usher us out so we "wouldn't cross paths," Stracner said the reporter told him."As soon as we walked down the front door all these vehicles pulled up," Stracner said. He thought maybe there was some kind of problem at the hotel because he had begun to feel more at ease toward the end of an interview that he felt had possibly "been a setup."Most of the questions asked by the "reporter" had been about Steve Anderson who is now the target of a manhunt since his involvement with a Middlesboro, Kentucky policeman last fall."I think the biggest thing this boils down to is they think he knows where Anderson is."The reporter wanted to know if Puckett thought Anderson was the type of person that would go out and blow up a federal building, according to Stracner. "Charlie did bring out that Steve is bi-polar." The reporter told the witnesses that he was an employee of TLC and that the cameramen were independent contractors.Puckett's Second Amendment organization had tried to get the Kentucky Legislature to act on the BATF presence and activity in Kentucky, but were told they had adopted a "Let's sit back and see attitude," Stracner said.Stacner says his organization has lost faith in the media. "I'm done doing interviews with the news media," Stracner said. "I say to heck with it, no more cooperation. You see what Charlie got for it. He tried to do what he felt was the right thing and now he's paying a penalty for it. My advice to all like-minded individuals nationwide is don't cooperate with them anymore. No more news media, no nothing."One the Web: http://www.kentuckystatemilitia.cc/ http://www.sierratimes.com/02/02/26/arky022602.htm
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