Friend feared Capitol gyrocopter pilot would get shot down
Stunt involved delivering letters to all 535 members of Congress
A Florida postal worker who piloted a gyrocopter onto the US Capitol lawn to call attention to his belief that campaign finance laws are too weak is “a patriot” who first came up with the idea about a year ago, a friend said.
Doug Hughes, 61, called his friend Mike Shanahan on Wednesday and said he was in the D.C. area and ready to take off, Shanahan was quoted by The Tampa Bay Times as saying. Shanahan said he feared law enforcement would shoot down the small aircraft emblazoned with the Postal Service logo, so he alerted the US Secret Service. The gyrocopter landed about half a city block from the Capitol building.
“I was scared to death they were going to kill him,” Shanahan said.
Hughes steered his tiny aircraft onto the Capitol’s West Lawn after flying through restricted airspace around the National Mall, police said. A Senate aide told journalists the Capitol Police knew of the plan shortly before Hughes took off. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the aide was not authorised to publicly discuss details of the investigation.
Hughes is a married father of four who wanted to “spotlight corruption in D.C. and more importantly, to present the solution[s] to the institutional graft,” reads a statement on his website, The Democracy Club. He lives in the Tampa Bay area community of Ruskin.
In an interview with the Times before his flight, Hughes told the paper he sees himself as a showman patriot — a mix of Paul Revere and legendary circus owner P.T. Barnum.
The stunt, which led to breathless reports on national cable TV networks, involved delivering letters to all 535 members of Congress to draw attention to campaign finance corruption.
His website talks of “bi-partisan corruption” and urges readers not to focus on him.
“Let’s keep the discussion focused on reform — not me — I’m just delivering the mail,” he wrote.
According to his website, Hughes was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, where his first job was at a McDonald’s. Upon graduating from high school, he joined the Navy, he wrote, and then worked in restaurant management on the West Coast. He lived in North Carolina and then moved to Florida following a divorce.
‘No violent inclinations’
He’s worked for the Postal Service for 11 years.
“As I have informed the authorities, I have no violent inclinations or intent,” Hughes wrote. “An ultralight aircraft poses no major physical threat — it may present a political threat to graft. I hope so. There’s no need to worry — I’m just delivering the mail.”
He said he told the Times about his stunt because he feared being hurt or arrested. He also said he kept his Russian-born wife and 12-year-old daughter in the dark about his plan.
Hughes has three other children, including one son who took his own life by driving his car head-on into another vehicle, killing both himself and the other driver nearly three years ago. Hughes said his son’s suicide was a catalyst for him.