-Caveat Lector- > FBI Agents 'Miffed' that Gun Owner Contacted Media > By Jeff Johnson > CNSNews.com Congressional Bureau Chief > November 05, 2002 > > Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Prior to the capture of "Beltway Sniper" > suspects John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo, an > unconfirmed number of Maryland gun owners received surprise visits > from the FBI as part of the investigation. One such gun owner had > a surprise of his own for the agents when they arrived at his home. > > Jeff Brown of Gaithersburg, Md., was "a little nervous" when he heard > the voicemail message from an FBI agent on the sniper task > force who wanted to "visit" Brown at his home to check a .223 caliber > semi-automatic rifle Brown purchased in 1993. Adding to that > apprehension was the fact that Brown owns and drives a full-sized > white panel van, the type of vehicle investigators believed the > sniper was driving. > > "I expected, actually, to be pulled over and spread-eagle on the > street at some point," Brown told CNSNews.com Monday. "When he > called, I knew their database had had a double hit. A white van and a > .223 rifle? I knew they were coming." > > In a subsequent telephone conversation, Metzger reportedly told Brown > that agents merely wanted to verify the serial number of the > rifle and confirm that it was, in fact, still physically in Brown's > possession. The two scheduled an appointment to accomplish those > goals. > > But Brown later learned that the agents had tried at least once to > make an unannounced visit, and only called because they were > unable to catch him at home. > > "Once I told some of my friends in the pro-gun community what was > happening, they began to relate some stories to me about guys > having their guns confiscated, for so-called 'ballistic > fingerprinting,' and not getting their guns back," Brown explained. > "I > became alarmed." > > Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, said the > attitude of the federal agents comes as a result of "years of > accepting gun control as somehow useful for solving crimes." > > "The [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] went to the stores and > got the lists of gun owners that had something that could fire > a .223. But, it didn't solve the crime," Pratt noted. "The only > reason we find that gun registration is 'useful' is for > confiscation." > > FBI Agents 'Were Not Happy' > > Brown's apprehension prompted him to contact an attorney, who > instructed him on preparing for the visit. So, when FBI Special Agent > Greg Metzger and his partner arrived at Brown's home for their > scheduled meeting, they were greeted by Brown and his wife, Mary, > along with reporters and photographers from various media outlets. > > As Brown described the situation, the agents were "a little bit > miffed." > > "They were not happy," he observed. "They just were not interested in > being around any cameras." > > The agents asked Brown to step outside the home, away from the > television crew, to talk. > > "Can we, uh ... come here," one of the agents said to Brown. > Obliging, Brown stepped away from the door to speak with the agents, > but still within view of the camera. > > Brown began recapping the agreement he had made with Special Agent > Metzger. But when one of the agents realized Brown was wearing a > wireless microphone, he stopped the conversation short. > > "Do you have a microphone on?" the agent asked as he reached toward > the microphone clipped to Brown's shirt. Brown backed away and > continued talking, but the agent interrupted him again. > > "Can you do me a favor?" the agent asked. "Can you take the apparatus > off that you have on? I'd like to speak to you privately." > > Brown complied, but only after summoning his wife to serve as a > witness to the conversation with the agents. Out of the camera's > view, and believing they could not be heard, the agents challenged > Brown about the presence of the media. > > "They were belligerent, at that point, with me. They weren't > threatening me or pushing me around or touching me or anything like > that, but their mannerisms and attitude quickly became offended and > belligerent," Brown recalled. "I was thinking to myself, 'See, > this is what I was afraid would happen if you guys came into my > house, especially if I was alone.'" > > 'Don't You Know People Are Dying?' > > Parts of the conversation picked up by the camera's long-range > microphone confirm Brown's account of what happened next. > > "Why didn't you give us a chance to do what we said we were going to > do instead of ambushing us with the media? Why didn't you trust > us?" one agent asked. > > Brown said it was not so much the words the agents used, as their > attitude and body language that made him uncomfortable. > > "There was some lecturing about it," he said recalling one comment > that did unnerve him. > > "One thing they said was, 'Don't you know people are dying and we're > just trying to do our job?'" Brown recalled, "Of course, the > inference was that I didn't care that there were people dying and I > was trying to interfere with them doing their job." > > During that conversation, the agents reportedly admitted that they > had seized other rifles, allegedly with permission, to compare > them to the ballistic evidence gathered from the crime scenes. > > "They said, from some people, they do 'request' to take the gun with > them and do 'ballistic fingerprinting,' as they call it," Brown > recalled. "I just did not want to have my gun disappear." > > Pratt believes the agents "developed an attitude," because Brown > challenged their attempts to violate his constitutional rights. > > "The FBI is trying to put this guy on a guilt trip because he's 'not > cooperating' with the system but it's a totally useless > system," Pratt argued. "They just assume that gun owners [are] all a > bunch of suspects just for being gun owners and they should > behave accordingly." > > 'They Were Doing It On Purpose' > > At the request of Special Agent Metzger, Brown instructed the media > to stay outside his home, where they could see what was > happening through a plate glass window. Brown had the unloaded weapon > displayed in plain sight for the inspection. > > The agents followed Brown and his wife inside and confirmed the > serial number on the rifle as they had said they wanted to do. But > that was not the end of the encounter. > > "After they checked, they started [questioning Brown again], and > that's when my wife stepped in and told them to leave," Brown said, > noting that his wife formerly worked in law enforcement. > > Mary Brown believed the agents were attempting to agitate her > husband, hoping he would say or do something to justify their > confiscation of his rifle. > > "I could tell that they were doing it on purpose and I didn't like > what they were doing to you," she told her husband. "So, I > decided to just jump right in." > > The agents left the couple's property, as they were ordered to do. > > Jeff Brown does not believe the agents' reaction to the presence of > the media, or their "brow-beating" tactics were justified. > > "I'm not here to make them feel happy. I have to make sure my rights > are not violated. I wanted to help, but this is not Nazi > Germany," he explained. "I looked [Metzger] right in the eye and said > ... 'I don't care whether you're upset about being ambushed by > the media. I felt I needed some witnesses here with me.'" > > Brown, a member of the National Rifle Association and former > candidate for public office in Maryland, was also upset by what he > perceived as a lack of honesty on the part of the FBI. > > "[Metzger] wasn't upfront with me, and I didn't have any guilty > feelings about [contacting the media]," Brown said. "They weren't > truthful with me. They didn't tell me all the truth. They only told > me the part they wanted to hear." > > A Message to Gun Owners? > > Debbie Weierman, a spokeswoman for the FBI, said the bureau would not > respond to any questions about the encounter, because the > probe into the multiple murders was still in progress. > > "We're not going to be able to get into any kind of a dialogue with > you regarding any aspect of our investigation," she said. > > Pratt believes the response of the agents to the presence of the > media shows that their main focus was not on finding the "Beltway > Sniper," but rather on sending a message to gun owners. > > "They know it's not about crime control because, if they were really > interested in finding the perpetrator they would have kept > moving. Obviously this guy wasn't the guy," Pratt concluded. "What > it's really all about is showing that the feds are in control in > a very totalitarian sense of the word."
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