A 61-year-old postal worker from Florida, Doug Hughes, is in Capitol police custody after piloting his homemade gyro copter over the nation’s capitol and landing it on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol just after 1 pm on Wednesday.

Hughes, who has been planning his flight over a period of months, flew into the restricted airspace, evading authorities, to bring his protest on outside monies in politics, to the attention of lawmakers. Friends and acquaintances of Hughes said that Hughes is not dangerous and that Hughes had voiced his intentions widely before he carried out his aerial protest.

On his website, thedemocracyclub.org, Hughes wrote, “As I have informed the authorities, I have no violent inclinations or intent. “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.” The logo of the U.S. Postal Service was clearly visible on the side of the small open-air craft.

The appearance of the craft as it flew over the National Mall and the Capitol reflecting pool at low altitude caused chaos at the Capitol. Hughes was  contacted and immediately arrested by a small group of security officials after he made his hard landing onto the lawn. The Capitol was briefly locked down and streets were closed, but all were soon re-opened after the postal worker was taken into custody.

  arrest, campaign reform, capitol, doug hughes, gyro copter, outside money, postal worker, security, washington d.c.