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ASHEVILLE, NC — Asheville Regional Airport police arrested a 23-year-old Ohio man who was carrying a handgun and listening to police radio scanners near the runway around the time President Barack Obama’s flight was leaving Asheville, according to investigators.
Joseph Sean McVey, home address 46369 Township Road 285, Coshocton, OH 43812 (southeastern Ohio) pulled his vehicle in front of a gate in the rental car parking lot as Air Force One was taxiing on the runway just before 2 p.m., according to a case summary filed by police.
The car’s Ohio plates and other equipment including a digital camera on the dashboard and four large antennas on the trunk lid caught an airport police officer’s attention, according to the case summary.
McVey got out of the car and started talking on a handheld radio attached to a remote earpiece and the officer noticed he was wearing a sidearm.
The officer and Secret Service agents asked for McVey’s identification and when they ran his driver’s license number through a computer it did not come back as valid, according to the case summary.
When the officer asked what he was doing, McVey stated “he heard the president was in town. He stated he wanted to see the president,” according to a case summary.
The Presidential motorcade approaches I-40
from NC 9 in Black Mountain. (Bill Sanders)
Joseph Sean McVey of Coshocton, OH
Officers then removed McVey’s Springfield XD 40 handgun and detained him.
While searching his Pontiac Grand Prix, investigators heard police department radio traffic “indicating he was monitoring our frequency when he arrived,” according to the summary.
Officers also found a siren box under his steering wheel, several pieces of paper with agency frequencies written on them and a sticky note in the cup holder with rifle scope formulas on them.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
