An American Lion

They’re coming out of the woodwork, and they don’t get any more pathetic than this:

Somerset County investigators seized a cache of weapons including a grenade launcher and hundreds of rounds of ammunition today from the Branchburg motel room of a Virginia man, who also had maps of a U.S. military facility and an out-of-state civilian community.

Lloyd Woodson, 43, whose last known address was Reston, Va., today faces multiple offenses, including second-degree unlawful weapons possession and fourth-degree possession of prohibited weapons, Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest said.

Wait a minute—this man lived in Reston? An area known for Federal workers and with a very high-density population? Reston is within a stone’s throw of many Federal facilities. Reston is not cheap, and it is home to one of my favorite stores—a Williams & Sonoma store that, if you know Reston, is an excellent place to shop. God, I miss Williams & Sonoma. What the devil was this man doing, living in Reston? I don’t get it.

Anyway, Lloyd sounds like quite the panicky wannabe:

Lloyd WoodsonAt the time of his arrest, Woodson was wearing a military-style ballistic vest with a reinforced steel plate and carrying a .223-caliber assault rifle that had been altered to fire .50-caliber ammunition, Forrest. He was also carrying four loaded magazines with hollow-point ammunition, Forrest said.

Branchburg police confronted Woodson at 3:55 a.m. at the Quick Chek convenience store on Route 28 after receiving a call reporting a suspicious person. Branchburg Patorlman Steven Cronce noticed a large bulge beneath the green, military-style jacket that Woodson was wearing, which was later determined to be the assault rifle with a defaced serial number, Forrest said.

Woodson appeared “extremely nervous” as Cronce questioned him, and he ultimately ran from the convenience store toward the Regency Trailer Park on Route 22, Forrest. Officers found Woodson hiding in the bushes and he attempted to run, Forrest said.

Officers tackled him and used pepper spray to subdue Woodson, Forrest said.

Detectives later searched Woodson’s room at the Red Mill Inn on Route 22 and found weapons including a .308-caliber semi-automatic assault rifle with a defaced serial number, a grenade launcher, hundreds .50-caliber and .308-caliber rounds, a police scanner, and the maps of a U.S. military installation and an out-of-state civilian community, Forrest said. Woodson, who is a Navy veteran, had been staying at the hotel since last week.

Investigators also found Middle Eastern red and white traditional headdress, Forrest said.

Sounds to me like he was in over his head and incapable of following through on whatever demented plan he had. You have to conclude that, as a Navy veteran, he was no stranger to getting on and off a military post. To look at the way that he has groomed himself is to shudder—he’s shaved high and tight and has recently shave his facial hair. He is heavy-set, but looks the part of a member of the military.

If you’re willing to die for some cause, wearing a ballistic vest means what, exactly? I think it means fear, since he was probably going through some checklist or some “psyching up” phase that has ended, thankfully, with his capture. Kudos to the police.

And, you know, it brings home a point that needs to be made. For all of the efforts of our government to invade our privacy, eavesdrop on what we say to one another, mine vast amounts of data, and allow telecommunications companies to escape culpability for not complying with the law, stopping this terrorist came down to good police work at the local level. Situational awareness, acting upon what was seen, and following through with a good investigation. Had this man had accomplices (and he may have, I do not know), then how frightening it could have been for the police to raid the man’s hotel room?

Do you want to know what’s brave? What’s brave is taking the time to stop this man and follow through on what was found. That patrolman was paying attention and spotted a man who clearly had something going on about his person. He was armed, frighteningly, with a weapon that would have been devastating in any kind of a firefight with a patrolman. How would you like to go up against a man decked out in a ballistic vest with an assault rifle? How would you like to be the patrolman who, with probably nothing more than a sidearm, has to subdue and tackle this man? And to have done it with pepper spray is amazing. If they had blown Woodson away, who, in their right mind, could blame them, given this man’s arsenal?

No matter how you slice it, that’s brave. That patrolman is no Johnny Law, that’s for certain. That is a law enforcement officer, and he and his fellow officers really are the thin blue line. They deserve thanks and gratitude from the citizens they have protected.