Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he didn’t understand why the man who flew into restricted airspace and landed his gyrocopter on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol wasn’t shot down, The Washington Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Graham said during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt that shooting down a rogue plane was justified because of the real threat presented by Islamist terrorism.
“He should have been subject to being shot out of the sky,” Graham said. “I don’t know why he wasn’t, but our nation is under siege. Radical Islam is a threat to our home land. There are probably radical Islamic cells in our backyard already.”
“If somebody is willing to, you know, approach vital government infrastructure, they should do so at their own peril,” Graham continued. “I don’t know if he’s mentally ill. I’m glad he’s alive in that regard, if he’s mentally ill, but we’ve got to be more serious about our national security.”
Graham has yet to formally announce candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination but he has hinted that he’s considering a possible run.
On Wednesday, 61-year-old Doug Hughes flew his gyrocopter on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The mailman from Ruskin, Fla. was planning to hand-deliver letters to members of Congress urging them to act on campaign finance reform.
