Thread: Senator arrested for trying to take gun on plane

Illinois state senator arrested for trying to take gun on plane

By James B. Kelleher | Reuters – 3 hrs ago

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An Illinois state senator who is running for former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr.'s seat in Congress was arrested on Wednesday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after he tried to bring a handgun and bullets onto an airplane, a police spokeswoman said.

Donne Trotter was arrested at a Transportation Security Administration security checkpoint and has been charged with attempting to board an aircraft with a weapon, a Class 4 felony, a spokeswoman for the Cook County State Attorney said.

Last week, the 62-year-old Democrat said he was joining the increasingly congested field of candidates hoping to succeed Jackson, who resigned from Congress on November 21.

Jackson had been treated for bipolar disorder over the summer and is reportedly under investigation for alleged misuse of campaign funds.

Trotter's district office in Chicago did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.

Trotter has served in the Illinois statehouse since 1988.

He is among several Illinois lawmakers who have fallen afoul of authorities this year. Two other Illinois state lawmakers have been indicted, and Jackson acknowledged in his resignation letter that he was under investigation by federal authorities.

http://news.yahoo.com/illinois-state-senator-arrested-trying-gun-plane-232235567.html

State senator had gun in garment bag at O'Hare, police say

Trotter was charged with attempting to board an aircraft with a weapon, a Class 4 felony, according to Tandra Simonton, a state's attorney's office spokeswoman. The felony charge carries a prison sentence of one to three years, though a judge can grant probation.

Trotter among crowd seeking Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s congressional seat

State Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago (Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune / December 6, 2012)

By Rick Pearson and Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune reporters December 6, 2012

A Democratic state senator who is seeking former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s congressional seat was arrested Wednesday at O'Hare International Airport after trying to board an aircraft to Washington, D.C., with a gun, authorities said.

Sen. Donne Trotter, of Chicago, was expected to spend the night in a Northwest Side police lockup and appear in bond court Thursday. Police said they found an unloaded .25-caliber Beretta in his garment bag along with a clip containing six live rounds.

The South Side lawmaker told authorities that he worked late Tuesday night as a security guard for Allpoints Security and Detective Inc. and had packed his bag early Wednesday morning. Trotter, who has the proper permits and licenses to carry a firearm for security work, told officials he forgot the gun and clip were in the bag.

The arrest adds a new dimension to the 2nd Congressional District contest to replace Jackson, who announced his resignation Nov. 21 amid federal ethics probes and a diagnosis of bipolar depression.
Trotter, who has been in the state legislature since 1989, is among at least a half dozen announced Democratic contenders for the office in the heavily Democratic district that stretches from the South Side to Kankakee. He appeared to have the inside track toward gaining the formal endorsement of the district's top Cook County Democrats at a Dec. 15 slating session.

The senator was not in Springfield for session Wednesday, though he was at the state Capitol a day earlier. A source said Trotter was expected to attend the annual conference of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in Washington.

Transportation Security Administration officials and Chicago police said Trotter, 62, was at a security checkpoint in Terminal 1, which serves United Airlines, when a TSA officer detected the firearm inside a bag during an X-ray screening at about 8 a.m. Police responded to a call from TSA and when officials realized the bag belonged to Trotter, they escorted him to a nearby room to interview him.

Trotter was charged with attempting to board an aircraft with a weapon, a Class 4 felony, according to Tandra Simonton, a state's attorney's office spokeswoman. The felony charge carries a prison sentence of one to three years, though a judge can grant probation.

The state senator currently earns $84,416 a year in his role as chairman of the Senate Democratic majority caucus. Attempts to reach officials at Allpoints Security were unsuccessful.

The Chicago-based security firm donated $500 to Trotter's re-election campaign last year, records show. In his economic interest statement filed with the state in April, Trotter said he did not receive more than $1,200 in outside income from nonprofessional services during the previous 12 months.
Trotter has been a longtime gun-control advocate who opposed concealed carry legislation in the state. In an unsuccessful Democratic primary bid in 2000 against U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, Trotter chided another candidate in the contest for being absent from a special legislative session during a crucial gun-control vote.

"It's important for our constituents to be here to act upon this one way or another," Trotter said of then-state Sen. Barack Obama.

Other 2nd District contenders in the Feb. 26 primary include former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson of Crete, state Sen. Toi Hutchinson of Olympia Fields, former state Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson, state Sen.-elect Napoleon Harris of Flossmoor and convicted former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds.

Sen. Donne Trotter arrested at O'Hare on gun charge - chicagotribune.com

Headline should read "Anti-gun Senator" at the beginning. I'd put "two faced" ahead of that if it were up to me. 'Stupid' and 'arrogant' comes to mind also. He will fill crazy Jackson's shoes nicely.

Originally Posted by SicNTiredInSoCal

Headline should read "Anti-gun Senator" at the beginning. I'd put "two faced" ahead of that if it were up to me. 'Stupid' and 'arrogant' comes to mind also. He will fill crazy Jackson's shoes nicely.

How is he anti-gun?
He has a permit for the gun and works as an armed security guard.

The South Side lawmaker told authorities that he worked late Tuesday night as a security guard for Allpoints Security and Detective Inc. and had packed his bag early Wednesday morning. Trotter, who has the proper permits and licenses to carry a firearm for security work, told officials he forgot the gun and clip were in the bag.

Last week T.S.A. found 26 guns. 24 of them were loaded.

http://www.alipac.us/f19/tsa-week-re...te-clt-268019/

You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Travelers should familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure.

Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items.

Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team

If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact us by clicking here.

http://blog.tsa.gov/2012/11/tsa-week...concealed.html

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

How is he anti-gun?
He has a permit for the gun and works as an armed security guard.

» Anti-Second Amendment Democrat Arrested With Gun at Chicago’s O’Hare Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

The arrest yesterday of Illinois Democrat Donne Trotter by TSA agents for attempting to bring a .25-caliber Beretta pistol on an airplane at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport demonstrates the hypocrisy of the anti-Second Amendment crowd.
Trotter is charged with one count of attempting to board an airplane with a weapon, a Class 4 felony.
Donne Trotter is a long-time gun-grabber. He opposed concealed carry legislation in the state and worked to outlaw so-called assault weapons. During an unsuccessful Democratic primary bid in 2000 against U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, he criticized his opponent for missing a special legislative session attacking the right of Illinois citizens to own firearms.
In 1995, Trotter went up against fellow state senator Kirk Dillard after the Republican proposed a concealed carry law. Trotter argued that passing the law would turn citizens into vigilantes.
“Trotter is a South Side Democrat and he was a leader in the move to ban so-called ‘assault weapons’ during his first term as a state representative,” said Alan Gottlieb, chairman of Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, in a press release. “A man who favored banning firearms for thousands of his fellow Illinois residents shouldn’t even have a gun, much less be packing one illegally into an airport.”
“Senator Trotter, by his own action, has demonstrated the monumental hypocrisy of gun control advocates who try to disarm average citizens while reserving the right to bear arms for themselves alone,” Gottlieb continued. “He should not even be serving in the state legislature, much less be running for a seat in Congress, which already has its share of gun prohibition hypocrites.”
Trotter’s arrest follows remarks by sportscaster Bob Costas and sports writer Jason Whitlock after linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend and then committed suicide with a handgun. “If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kassandra Perkins would both be alive today,” Costas said Sunday, citing an article condemning the Second Amendment.

Here's another for you, JD:
State senator had gun in garment bag at O'Hare, police say

By Rick Pearson and Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune reporters December 6, 2012

A Democratic state senator who is seeking former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s congressional seat was arrested Wednesday at O'Hare International Airport after trying to board an aircraft to Washington, D.C., with a gun, authorities said.

Sen. Donne Trotter, of Chicago, was expected to spend the night in a Northwest Side police lockup and appear in bond court Thursday. Police said they found an unloaded .25-caliber Beretta in his garment bag along with a clip containing six live rounds.

The South Side lawmaker told authorities that he worked late Tuesday night as a security guard for Allpoints Security and Detective Inc. and had packed his bag early Wednesday morning. Trotter, who has the proper permits and licenses to carry a firearm for security work, told officials he forgot the gun and clip were in the bag.

The arrest adds a new dimension to the 2nd Congressional District contest to replace Jackson, who announced his resignation Nov. 21 amid federal ethics probes and a diagnosis of bipolar depression.
Trotter, who has been in the state legislature since 1989, is among at least a half dozen announced Democratic contenders for the office in the heavily Democratic district that stretches from the South Side to Kankakee. He appeared to have the inside track toward gaining the formal endorsement of the district's top Cook County Democrats at a Dec. 15 slating session.

The senator was not in Springfield for session Wednesday, though he was at the state Capitol a day earlier. A source said Trotter was expected to attend the annual conference of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in Washington.

Transportation Security Administration officials and Chicago police said Trotter, 62, was at a security checkpoint in Terminal 1, which serves United Airlines, when a TSA officer detected the firearm inside a bag during an X-ray screening at about 8 a.m. Police responded to a call from TSA and when officials realized the bag belonged to Trotter, they escorted him to a nearby room to interview him.

Trotter was charged with attempting to board an aircraft with a weapon, a Class 4 felony, according to Tandra Simonton, a state's attorney's office spokeswoman. The felony charge carries a prison sentence of one to three years, though a judge can grant probation.
The state senator currently earns $84,416 a year in his role as chairman of the Senate Democratic majority caucus. Attempts to reach officials at Allpoints Security were unsuccessful.

The Chicago-based security firm donated $500 to Trotter's re-election campaign last year, records show. In his economic interest statement filed with the state in April, Trotter said he did not receive more than $1,200 in outside income from nonprofessional services during the previous 12 months.

Trotter has been a longtime gun-control advocate who opposed concealed carry legislation in the state. In an unsuccessful Democratic primary bid in 2000 against U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, Trotter chided another candidate in the contest for being absent from a special legislative session during a crucial gun-control vote.

"It's important for our constituents to be here to act upon this one way or another," Trotter said of then-state Sen. Barack Obama.
Other 2nd District contenders in the Feb. 26 primary include former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson of Crete, state Sen. Toi Hutchinson of Olympia Fields, former state Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson, state Sen.-elect Napoleon Harris of Flossmoor and convicted former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds.


Tribune reporters Monique Garcia, Rosemary Regina Sobol, Annie Sweeney and Ray Long contributed.
rap30@aol.com
jgorner@tribune.com

Copyright © 2012 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC






Sen. Donne Trotter arrested at O'Hare on gun charge - chicagotribune.com

"I forgot the gun and clip was in the bag."

HAHAHAHA! Good one. It's like when you "forget" to make your house or car payment. ooops.

He's just another two faced dem who feels he above the law.

Sounds like he wants to have a gun but prevent other people from having one.