Man gets jail time for firing shotgun at Ron Paul sign
Posted March 13th, 2008 by adam1mc
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WENATCHEE — A Wenatchee man who fired a shotgun at a Ron Paul presidential campaign sign in the yard of a Ninth Street residence has been sentenced to 10 months in jail.
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Michael A. Henken fired a shotgun at the sign while riding as a passenger in a truck in December.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and aiming or discharging a firearm and was sentenced in Chelan County Superior Court on Feb. 20.
Henken, 23, fired the gun, which was loaded with buckshot, after he and his girlfriend got into a fight, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Wenatchee police Detective Terry Adcock. Some of the buckshot hit the sign and some hit the siding of the home, which was occupied, said Chelan County Prosecutor Gary Riesen. No one was hurt.
Riesen said Henken did not give a motivation for firing the gun at the sign.
"If it would have been an Obama sign who knows if he would have shot at it," Riesen said Wednesday afternoon.
In sentencing documents Henken stated he "assaulted another person with a deadly weapon by unlawfully firing a shotgun from a moving vehicle."
According to Adcock's affidavit, Justin Z. Dill, 26, of Cashmere, drove the pickup from which Henken fired on Dec. 2. Dill was sentenced March 5 to eight months in jail after he pleaded guilty to complicity to second-degree assault.
Both men were originally charged with drive-by shooting and unlawful imprisonment. The drive-by shooting charges were later reduced to assault.
An 18-year-old woman was a passenger in the truck when the shots were fired. The three went to a hotel after the incident, according to court records. The affidavit states the woman said both Henken and Dill threatened to kill her when the three were in the hotel room, with Henken going so far as to point a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic Glock pistol at her head.
Henken and Dill were arrested after the woman sent a text message to her boyfriend and her boyfriend phoned the police.
The unlawful-imprisonment charges against the men were dismissed because of conflicting statements between the woman and the two men, Riesen said.
Travis Hay: 665-1169
hay@wenworld.com
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Another example
Of the nanny state protecting private property on one hand and violating it on another.
The Revolution Continues at http://nationbuilder.org
The poor man
This is so sad. he must be suffering from some sort of mental anguish. Only a deranged human being could do such a thing. This is not done with criminal intent. - It can't be surely? I'm convinced that with expert help we will find that in some deep, distant past he or a loved one was crossed by a bad politician or something like that. Or over taxed. Or/ his name is Ron and he's dyslexcic and he thought the sign said 'Ron,-Pull'! Probably.
'I always think of all you canvassors and precinct leaders at the front line.
Good luck out there &Thank you. It's appreciated'.-fip -U.K
I say let them off
If they promise to canvass for the doc.
They can walk around in those orange suits and help the cause for freedom.
I would look the other way if they shot a McCain sign or two.....somebody's gotta do it.
That Guy Should Feel Lucky It Wasn't A MCCAIN Sign
Vote RON PAUL 2008
______________
If it was -- It would probably have returned the gun fire!
Can't Fire a Shotgun Without Hitting a Ron Paul Sign!
Good work!
IMissLiberty
funny
funny
Now That's Funny!
Vote RON PAUL 2008
Mental Illness in rural Washington
Herein lies the trouble with everyone coming from the same gene pool. :P
Idiots
Idiots like that give gun owners a bad name. They deserved to be locked up.
Let's have some mercy
Let's send him some Dr. Paul books, he has now plenty of time to read and get familiar with the issues!
Crazy non-Ron Paul
Crazy non-Ron Paul supporters!
*rolls eyes*
It's confusing about exactly what they are getting jail time for
If they discharged a firearm at a yard sign, even if some shot hit the side of an occupied house, it doesn't necessarily mean the occupant was ever in any danger. I don't see enough details about the nature of the stray shot.
It's unclear if the jail time resulted from the yard sign incident or if the yard sign incident just served to bring attention to their joy ride of stupidity and make their threats against the girl more credible.
Was the assault against the house occupant or the girlfriend?
Man, I have no idea... The
Man, I have no idea... The story just popped up on my Google News search results and the title made me smile
I wouldn't care about all
I wouldn't care about all those details if it were my house, would you?
A damaged sign and some shot lodged in my mortar alone
doesn't get me riled up to want someone to go to jail for 10 months. Add in crazy man firing the gun to prove to his girlfriend he knows how to use it or if I was really in any danger and it's a different story.