TPMMuckraker

Secret Service Questioned Man With Guns Outside Obama Rally In Minnesota

A Kel Tec 380 pistol

When 32-year-old Josh Hendrickson left his house for a protest outside President Obama’s health care rally in Minneapolis Saturday, he considered whether to go armed.

When he typically goes out, he told the Star-Tribune, “I grab my wallet, my keys and my gun.”

Make that two guns.

Hendrickson showed up to the event with a Glock in a holster, and a Kel Tec 380 — known for its light weight and “manageable recoil” — in his back pocket. The local police and the Secret Service question Hendrickson after seeing the outline of a gun in his camo shirt, he said.

But, Hendrickson told the Star-Tribune he was not inspired by the gun-toters who showed up to Obama events in August. He just wanted to make the same point they wanted to make: “The Second Amendment isn’t suspended just because the president’s in town.”

Hendrickson then revealed to the Strib reporter that he recently got out of jail:



“I’m a pretty laid-back guy that loves his kids and his country,” Hendrickson said.

He added, however, that he had just been released from jail a month earlier on an assault charge for pepper-spraying a customer at a Cub Foods in Brooklyn Center, where he worked as a security guard.

Top Stories From TPM

Ohio Republicans Push Law To Penalize Colleges For Helping Students Vote

Wow, This is Pretty Epic

Longest-Serving Openly Gay Lawmaker In The U.S. Can Now Marry Her Parter In Minnesota

Eric Holder To Darrell Issa: Your Conduct Is 'Unacceptable' And 'Shameful'

Florida Man Shoots Himself While Bowling

House GOP To Hold Yet Another Obamacare Repeal Vote

Disqus Conversations

Click here to read the Disqus Commenting FAQ.

Editor & Publisher

Josh Marshall

Managing Editor

David Kurtz

Associate Editor

Nick Martin

Assistant Editor

Igor Bobic

Reporters

Brian Beutler

Sahil Kapur

Eric Lach

Hunter Walker

Frontpage Editor

Zoë Schlanger

News Writers

Tom Kludt

Video Editor

Michael Lester

General Manager & General Counsel

Millet Israeli

VP, Ad Sales

Bruce Ellerstein

Associate Publisher

Kyle Leighton

Assistant To The Publisher

Joe Ragazzo

Designer/Developer

Matthew Wozniak

Design Associate

Christopher O’Driscoll