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Earlier today MSNBC aired a segment showing a man with a loaded gun waiting for President Barack Obama to arrive at a town hall on health care reform at a high school in Portsmouth, N.H., and reportedly the local chief of police had no problem with it.
The man is carrying a sign that says, "It Is Time to Water the Tree of Liberty." That's a reference to a Thomas Jefferson quote: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." It was a favorite slogan of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who was wearing a T-shirt when he was arrested with a picture of Lincoln on the front and a tree dripping with blood on the back.SOURCE: Gawker
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How could this be allowed to happen, given this country's history with presidential assassinations -- not to mention the slayings of black leaders?
[William] Kostric said police asked him to move back from school property, but because the gun was in plain view, he wasn't breaking any laws. There are federal laws about how close a firearm can be brought to a school, but Kostric got permission from an official at a church to stand on its property.
Reportedly police kept the Secret Service "in the loop" once Obama had arrived at Portsmouth High School across the street from the protesters, and the matter concluded without incident.
Later, MSNBC's Chris Matthews grilled the man, William Kostric, about the weapon and the sign.
The segment grew more and more heated as Matthews repeatedly asked Kostric why he came to the meeting wearing a gun. "Well, why did you bring a gun to a Presidential event today?" "That's not even a relevant question," Kostric said, shrugging. "The question is, why don't people bear arms these days." "Okay, you bought a sign that said 'The tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants' and you're carrying a god damn gun at a Presidential event. I think those things make people wonder what you're about."
Check out the heated exchange in the video above, then weigh in below. Should the police have let this man stay while carrying a loaded gun?
President Obama Pictures
A Uighur protester wears a rubber mask of President Barack Obama during a demonstration in Tokyo, Japan, Sunday, July 12, 2009. The demonstration in downtown Tokyo Sunday ended peacefully with Japanese protesters calling on China to end the violence in Xinjiang, where at least 184 people have died in rioting. Those demonstrators waved blue flags with white crescents representing what they call "East Turkestan," their name for the region from where they come. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
AP
U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama return to Washington with their daughters Malia (L) and Sasha off Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base July 12, 2009, following their visit to Russia, Italy and Ghana. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES POLITICS)
Reuters
US President Barack Obama, alongside daughter Malia descends the steps of Air Force One after arriving at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, July 12, 2009. Obama returned from a week long trip abroad that included stops in Russia, Italy and Ghana. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
US President Barack Obama, alongside First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia descend the steps of Air Force One after arriving at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, July 12, 2009. Obama returned from a week long trip abroad that included stops in Russia, Italy and Ghana. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
President Barack Obama, second right, first lady Michelle Obama, second left, and their daughters Malia , left, and Sasha, right, arrive at the White House from Ghana, early Sunday, July 12, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
AP
President Barack Obama walks down the stairs with his daughters Malia, Sasha and firts lady Michelle Obama from Air Force One upon their arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Sunday July 12, 2009, returning from their trip to Europe and Africa.(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
AP
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama wave before boarding Air Force One after they participated in a departure ceremony at the airport in Accra, Ghana, Saturday, July 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
AP
WASHINGTON - JULY 12: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama (L), First Lady Michelle Obama (R) and daughters Sasha (2ndL) and Malia (2ndR) exit Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House July 12, 2009 in Washington, DC. Obama and the first family returned home to the White House in the early morning after a trip overseas to Russia, Europe, Africa and a G-8 meeting. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski-Pool/Getty Images)
Getty Images
President Barack Obama greets audience members as he participate in a departure ceremony at the airport in Accra, Ghana, Saturday, July 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
AP
President Barack Obama greets the crowd at a departure ceremony at the airport in Accra, Ghana, Saturday, July 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
AP
Comments: (125)
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By: Tim on 8/12/2009 1:58PM
Sincr. What you harbor within yourself speaks loudly in your posts. No need to say more. You have a blessed day also.
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By: Sincr on 8/12/2009 2:50PM
First off... EVERYONE is responding the same way I am which is to say when you're at a meeting that involves the president your right to bare arms is revoked because we know the history of what happens with guns and the president... i.e.: Kennedy, Lincoln, Reagan, etc... Did I mention they are white? Hmm... Let's see... We know what happens to leaders who ignore the threats of extremists... i.e.: Medgar Evers, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz a.k.a. Malcolm X, etc... Need I say more? We know the history of people turning an inch into a mile and the end result will be death... This is the reason why we're outraged. The method of our madness isn't racism but more or less equality or the lack thereof... WAKE UP! Everyone has an opinion and that's what mine is and for you to turn my words into some form of racism show's your ignorance to the subject at hand. Question... Have you experienced racism? Have you been arrested and targeted for the color of your skin? Have you been looked over when you applied for a job knowing you had ALL of the qualifications that they require for the position? I hold discomfort in my heart but never hatred. I love ALL men whether white or black. I'm of mixed nationalities myself. The experiences I speak of are not my own but of what I see for myself on a day-to-day basis.
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By: Tim on 8/12/2009 9:09PM
Sincr, Your ignorance is showing. Please show me the amendment that says any of my American rights get revoked when the president is around. The fact that you are STILL pointing out white and black differences in your posts proves your deep hatred and what you harbor inside. If you don’t have racist feelings inside, why did you respond to my original post? Like I said, your responses speak loudly for you as a person. Such a shame.
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By: stare k on 8/12/2009 9:35PM
The reason nothing was done because obama is black
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By: I am baddkitty on 8/12/2009 11:41PM
Sincr I hear what your saying, and what I have come to realize is, especially in these small bumpkin towns these individuals are used to being in total control. Could you see Bush going into some all black project community and reading books upside down to small black children, while outside a gangly black bearded man holds a sign provoking his possible removal from this earth. NO. But Bush didn't give a damn he would've not cared what people had to say and said F that. The sheriff asked him to leave the school premises because of laws. He received permission to stand somewhere else. The sad thing is his was within his rights to have a firearm within plain view. Had he been black he would have been stripped of those rights and arrested. This man and others like him could be trying to cause a diversion. Hopefully our country will have learned after the many assassinations of our pass leaders.
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By: ciaraariahna on 8/13/2009 1:34PM
To Badkitty - Portsmouth is hardly a "bumpkin" town. It is a beautiful seaside town in NH. There are many black people who reside there and there were many at the town meeting.
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By: I am baddkitty on 8/14/2009 2:23PM
To Ciaraarhiana
It doesn't matter how many people are black in this city. If one of those many black people who reside there had even thought of bringing a gun, he or she would have been arrested. The moment they opened their mouth to say I, they would have been arrested for disturbing the piece, and resisting arrest. It is the mentality of a place that will allow a person who is white to have a different right from someone of color that gives this city that bumpkin ass look. Until the blacks there as well as everyone else can do the same as anyone else, the majority rules. And they are not black. So if i offended you or any of your loved ones in N.H. that was not intended.
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By: Rory on 8/21/2009 2:21PM
Im calling BS on you as well. See the 2000 GOP convention when the Black Panthers showed up to protest carrying rifles, shotguns and pistols and didnt get arrested. You need to join your other friends and get off your Im a victim soapbox.
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By: Jim on 8/12/2009 12:07PM
never would have happened with bush in office...and the police allowed this...in this city...i'm glad to see there are more whites disgusted with this type of living...until whites make a stand to this madness towards blacks...especially the president...things will not change...this is totally unacceptable from any law enforcement agency..how can blacks or anyone else respect this as law let alone protection by the law
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By: Freedom on 8/13/2009 12:08PM
This is really hard to believe but then I know where I live. If my people never understand anything, understand this. These white folks want a race war bad as hell they want to kill as many blacks ,hispanics, and all other minorities as possible. And to my knowledge it will continue to happen until there is blood running in the streets.My youngest son is with the boarder patrol in Az. he told me that he's glad he found out the people that he was hired to protect are in fact his enemies. See we have the klan, the minute men, and all these faggot white groups on the boarder for what reason? To kill innocent hipanics and then make the claim that they're the drug cartel and they are stopping the drugs from coming accross into the States. Give me a break. Now I don't know about you but I am prepared for nothing but all-out war. And I'm at the place to where it could never matter again if it's man, woman, or child violate my rights you will catch a bullet. And that includes the police. You people NEED to wake up. America is after you,your family is in danger your community and everything you have worked for will be taken or destroyed. If you don't believe read abotu Tulsa OK. 1929 race riot we lost 4400 women, children, and men. And now to go through this in the Twenty-first century is unheard of. UNITY now or there no FUTURE FOR US IN AMERICA FIGHT FOR YOUR FAMILIES AND YOU RIGHTS....
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