This caught my attention
United States Park Police
Conviction In Significant Weapons Possession Case
A 24-year-old New Jersey man, Tyler Froatz, has pled guilty to weapons, firearms, ammunition and Molotov cocktail charges in a case related to a 2007 immigration rights rally in Meridian Hill Park. On February 26th, Froatz, of Wayne, New Jersey, pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to carrying a dangerous weapon (a seven-inch-long K-bar knife), possession of an unregistered firearm (an M-1 carbine), unlawful possession of ammunition, and possession of a Molotov cocktail. Froatz’s sentencing is scheduled for May 5th. He is facing statutory terms of up to five years of imprisonment each on the dangerous weapon and Molotov cocktail counts and a year of imprisonment on each of the possession counts. He will likely face a sentence of between 6 and 24 months on the count of carrying a dangerous weapon alone. According to the government’s evidence, on May 1, 2007, Froatz went to Meridian Hill Park in Northwest Washington to confront persons gathered to advocate immigration rights at a rally scheduled in the park that day. When first observed in the park, he was seen posting signs in the rally area. One of the signs included a graphic drawing depicting military personnel firing their weapons at and into immigrants entering the United States at the United States-Mexican border. The sign bore the words, “In order to stop the flood ... you have to stop the flow!” Rally participants confronted Froatz and a verbal, then physical, altercation ensued. U.S. Park Police officers responded, located Froatz, and ultimately placed him under arrest for assault. After his arrest, officers searched Froatz and his backpack. Inside the backpack, they found, among other items, the K-bar knife, a two-inch dagger, and a loaded 26.5 mm single shot flare gun. Concerned that he might have additional weapons nearby, the USPP officers located and seized Froatz’s Jeep Cherokee, which was found next to the park. Inside the Jeep, they discovered a loaded M-1 .30 caliber carbine concealed next to a box of ammunition. ATF agents subsequently inspected the rifle and determined that, although originally manufactured to be semi-automatic, the rifle had been converted to allow it to fire as fully automatic and that it was capable of doing so. The defendant had not registered the rifle in D.C. On May 2, 2007, the Park Police and ATF executed a search warrant at Froatz’s apartment. Inside the apartment, they found seven more unregistered firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and a glass jar wrapped in a T-shirt containing a mix of alcohol, ethanol, and a Styrofoam substance. The ATF analyzed the glass jar and its contents and determined that it was “consistent with an improvised incendiary weapon, commonly known as a Molotov cocktail.” In announcing the guilty plea, the U.S. attorney commended USPP detective Robert Freeman and officers James Walsh, Michael Abate, Adam Mendes, Wayne Humberson, Jeffrey Bartlett, detective sergeant Robert Steinheimer and sergeant Marco Ricciardi – along with others from ATF, the FBI and Metro Transportatoin PD – for their work in investigating and prosecuting the case. [Submitted by Channing Phillips, Public Affairs, Department of Justice]
I realize this is the NPS version of events, but if just half of it is true, this moron
needs to be in jail. Say what you will about their firearm policy, in this case it gives them one more crine to charge hin with and maybe keep him off the streets a little longer.
