Man with Bloody Chainsaw Let into the U.S. (moved from ATSNN)

A man crossing over from Canada to the U.S. on April 25 apparently wasn't travelling light. While attempting to cross the border he carried with him a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. Upon trying to move these items through US customs he was detained and questioned for 2 hours. He was finally released, minus his questionable items, as he had no criminal charges against him. It was later determined that he was involved in a double murder in Minto.



With all this heightened security, how was it this man was let in? According to the article, he was a naturalized citizen of the U.S. and had no outstanding warrents or the like. I still can't help but wonder if a bloody chainsaw wouldn't have been some sort of clue. Still, the US customs followed procedure and I give them credit for that.

[edit on 8-6-2005 by FreeThinking1]

Well from what I gathered in the article, the customs agents did everything in their power to search for a warrant or something that would allow them to detain the man.

From the msn article:
"Anthony said Despres was questioned for two hours before he was released. During that time, he said, customs agents employed “every conceivable method” to check for warrants or see if Despres had broken any laws in trying to re-enter the country"

It is disturbing that he was walking around like that, but if we arrested everyone who looked bizarre, there wouldn't be too many people on the streets anymore

Hows about a little add on to the otherwise restricting patriot act...

maybe a little wording like " if a suspect is holding a bloody chainsaw or other obvious bloodstained weapon, then they can be held until the origin of said blood is discovered thru testing. " and if it is human... don't let them in...

maybe they just miss the obvious things that make a difference...
kinda like the 'voluntary" spot screenings at airports in exchange for boarding early...
If half the patriot act made any sense... then i would support it more... but when this kind of crap happens... it makes it all seem like lip service with no result...

I read about this in the newspaper this morning. Absolutely horrific murders. And really, how much brainpower does it take to realize that some guy holding a chainsaw covered in red stains, not to mention a sword and the rest, has probably been up to no good?

If there weren't any legal reasons to detain this guy, does that mean it's legal to walk around with a sword in public? In my head, I'm comparing this to carrying a handgun or other firearm in public; that isn't legal unless you have a licence to do so.

The guy also obviously has mental problems, as the article hypothesized. Nobody in their right mind is stupid enough to try what this guy did.

Any lawyers or police officers or other knowledgable law-types here able to confirm that there was nothing more that customs could have done about stopping this guy?

Innocent till proven guilty, ayuh.

Probable Cause extends to suspicious persons carrying weapons.........Someone dropped the ball here.....

Hey, the guy was entering the United States, not communist Russia. It has not been proven what was on that chainsaw, rust or blood. The guy had nothing on his record and was an American citizen. He is innocent till proven guilty, nothing he was carrying is illegal, although he was required to leave them at the border. The border checkpoint did all they were able to do, all they should have done.

We are not at a point where we arrest people for looking funny. Not yet at least.

He has a wild looking mug shot.

I wonder if that is what he looked like when crossing.

This guy does look to be a bit on the crazy side. I suppose that's not illegal. Still, picturing this guy and a bloody chain saw......hmmmm