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 | | From: | CD | | Subject: | Michael Moore bodyguard arrested on gun charge | | Date: | Mon, 24 Jan 2005 08:09:05 +1100 |
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 | Jan. 21, 2005, 5:14PM
Michael Moore bodyguard arrested on gun charge at airport
Associated Press
NEW YORK - A bodyguard who has protected outspoken moviemaker and
gun-control advocate Michael Moore was arrested at Kennedy International
Airport for allegedly carrying a pistol without a New York license,
authorities said Thursday.
Patrick Burk, 34, was arraigned Thursday evening on a felony charge of
criminal possession of a weapon and was released on his own recognizance,
said Patrick Clark, a spokesman for the Queens district attorney's office. A
return court date was set for Feb. 3.
Burk was questioned by police Wednesday night after he notified a United
Airlines ticket agent that he wanted to carry his weapon - unloaded and in a
bag - on a flight to Los Angeles, said Port Authority spokesman Tony
Ciavolella.
The bodyguard, who works for the California-based security firm Gavin de
Becker & Associates, told police he had traveled to New York with Moore
earlier this month, Ciavolella said. He produced licenses for his Mauser
handgun from California and Florida, but not New York, which prompted his
arrest.
Burk's attorney, Marc Greenwald, said his client "was following proper
airline procedures when he was checking in and informed the airline that he
had an unloaded and locked weapon in his checked baggage, which he is
entitled to do."
Moore spokesman Mark Benoit said the filmmaker "wasn't there and had nothing
do with this."
Burk has been assigned to protect Moore at times in the past but is not his
personal bodyguard, Gavin de Becker said.
De Becker defended Burk, saying he had followed proper procedures at the
airport. He called him "a leading professional in his field."
Moore, the director of Fahrenheit 9/11, won the documentary Academy Award
for 2002's Bowling for Columbine, a scathing look at the gun culture in
America.
In an interview last year with Playboy magazine, Moore called the National
Rifle Association a "radical, freaky group."
"Most Americans are with me on this," he said about stricter gun controls.
"They understand duck hunters don't need Uzis and cop-killer bullets."
When asked to comment Thursday on the arrest of Moore's bodyguard, NRA
spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said: "Based on empirical evidence, this is the
height of hypocrisy."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/ae/3002797
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| | From: | FRAN | | Subject: | Re: Michael Moore bodyguard arrested on gun charge | | Date: | 23 Jan 2005 17:57:06 -0800 |
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| A bodyguard who has protected outspoken moviemaker and
gun-control advocate Michael Moore was arrested at Kennedy
International
Airport for allegedly carrying a pistol without a New York license,
authorities said Thursday.
Burk's attorney, Marc Greenwald, said his client "was following proper
airline procedures when he was checking in and informed the airline
that he
had an unloaded and locked weapon in his checked baggage, which he is
entitled to do."
Moore spokesman Mark Benoit said the filmmaker "wasn't there and had
nothing
do with this."
Burk has been assigned to protect Moore at times in the past but is not
his
personal bodyguard, Gavin de Becker said
In an interview last year with Playboy magazine, [Michael] Moore called
the National
Rifle Association a "radical, freaky group."
"Most Americans are with me on this," he said about stricter gun
controls.
"They understand duck hunters don't need Uzis and cop-killer bullets."
Some NRA spokesperson said:
"When asked to comment Thursday on the arrest of Moore's bodyguard, NRA
spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said: "Based on empirical evidence, this
is the
height of hypocrisy."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/ae/3002797
Fran asked:
How so?
Fran
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