User:Michael Shanahan/sandbox/Douglas Hughes - Gyro Pilot

Doug Hughes

not to be confused with the distinguished stage director Douglas Hughes

Douglas Hughes, a political activist, piloted a one-man ultralight gyrocopter on April 15, 2015 from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Washington DC to land on the US Capitol lawn with a cargo of 535 letters to Congress. The letters demand an end to the bipartisan corruption which Hughes claimed are a major cause of the dysfunction of government. He surrendered peacefully to DC Police after landing and was later charged with 6 crimes. Hughes pleaded guilty in November 2015 to one felony and was sentenced to 120 days plus one year of probation. Federal authorities announced in October 2016 they would destroy the gyrocopter which Hughes was required to forfeit in the plea agreement.

Early life
Hughes was born in 1953 in Redwood City CA. Most of his childhood was spent in Santa Cruz CA. He attended a Holy Cross Elementary and High Schools graduating in 1970. He entered the US Navy and served on the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise as an electrician. A few years after his discharge, Hughes moved to North Carolina and studied computer programming. He was married to Margaret Littrell in 1982 and they had three children and were divorced in 1995. He moved to Florida in 1996 and was remarried in 2002 to Alena Makerivich and they had  a daughter in 2003. Hughes worked for the US Post Office from 2003 until he retired in 2015.



Expanded description
The gyrocopter flight has its roots in tragedy. Hughes was deeply affected by the suicide of his son,John, in August 2012. The death John Hughes chose was by head-on collision, also killing the driver of the other vehicle. The suicide seemed to be the result of an argument with his girlfriend. The flight to Washington DC which the elder Hughes made was not an attempt at suicide but it was inspired by the power of uncompromising dedication. Hughes told the Tampa Bay Times, "He paid far too high a price for an unimportant issue, but if you're willing to take a risk, the ultimate risk, to draw attention to something that does have significance, it's worth doing."

The "something that does have significance" which was the subject of the flight was big money in politics. Hughes had the idea to deliver a political message by "delivering the mail" in an aerial stunt before he had any experience as a pilot. Acquiring the resources for an aircraft and the skill to fly it took 2 years. For the flight, Hughes carried 535 letters to Congress, individually stamped and addressed to each member of Congress. The flight was broadcast over the Internet to Hughes' web site "The Democracy Club". The flight from a small airport in Gettysburg, PA across Maryland finished on the west lawn of the US Capitol Building - a distance of about 70 miles and total flight time just under 90 minutes.

In 2014, Hughes contacted a writer with the Tampa Bay Times to explain his non-violent protest. Interviews and video, including flight video, was done in advance with the understanding the story would be posted online at the Times' web site as soon as the flight began. The reporter was in Washington DC and saw the take-off on Hughes' web site. At the time Hughes began the flight, an E-mail to the government through barackobama.com was sent automatically which explained the intent of the flight and where it was going. Dozens of emails were sent to the media directing them to the Tampa Bay Times web site for the story and the Hughes web site for the background. A few weeks after the flight, the Chairman of the US House Oversight Committee in an official hearing on the gyrocopter flight said, "The guy in the gyrocopter was livefeeding a stream. I have heard a story from one of the major networks where they were watching it in New York, called down to the Capitol, and had staff reporters and producers go down on the grass to watch it happen."

Seventeen months before the flight, Hughes was interviewed by the US Secret Service. In October 2013, he admitted to the US Secret Service owning a gyrocopter and identified where it was located but did not admit to specific plans for the flight. Hughes claimed this encounter with the federal police validated his non-violent inclination. In the letter to the government sent at the time of take-off and to the media, Hughes declared the investigation by the US Secret Service and lack of action by the authorities was proof that his non-violent political intent had been established in advance of the flight.

Following his return to Florida, Hughes did a number of interviews from his home while under house arrest. These included George Stephanopoulis on "Good Morning America", and Chris Matthews on "Hardball", Sean Hannity on "Hannity"  Two notable interviews  were with Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now" and with Cenk Uygur of "The Young Turks" who devoted time to discussion in depth the different facets of corruption. In the interviews Hughes made the case for the need to reverse the Supreme Court decision, "Citizens United" and get big money out of politics. Stephanopoulous concluded Hughes had a "quirky sense of humor" after Hughes predicted that the government would "probably melt it [gyrocopter] down and make beer cans out of it". Chris Matthews declared that Hughes should get an hour of community service, "And his one hour should be spent addressing a joint session, a joint meeting of the Congress. He should walk in there and tell them why he did  that. And that must all be there to watch it." In the discussion with Hannity, the bipartisan nature of corruption was central to the interview.

Hughes flight triggered media discussion on the subject of money in politics. In an editorial for Huffingtonpost, John Ennis presented the of big money in politics and the near-futility of citizen opposition to corruption with the question, "What other recourse did he have?" The co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Ben Cohen, a long-term opponent of corruption, penned a strong editorial of support of Hughes' flight as a legitimate act of civil disobedience. Ralph Nader opined on the state of money in politics and suggested how the "gyrocopter gang" could get public financing of elections passed. Two former members of Congress, Connie Morella (R-MD) and Dan Glickman (D-KS)  teamed up to write an editorial "We Are Gyrocopter" which declared from the point of view of former members of Congress, "we know better than most just how damaging special interest influence can be to our political process, and how corrosive big money’s influence is on public servants."

The gyrocopter flight was not without critics.“He is lucky to be alive because he should have been blown out of the air...,” Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said. “If it was up to me, I would have taken care of the problem.” Anderson Cooper expressed deep concern in his interview that  tax dollars would be spent  in law enforcement and prosecution for Hughes' 'stunt'. Hughes' response was that if the flight began the process of ending corruption, "it's the best money the government ever spent"

The gyrocopter flight inspired art in a variety of venues. Soon after the flight, street art depicting the flight showed up in LA. Two different songs were written, "Ballad of Doug Hughes" by Paul Loether and "Superhero Autogyro" by Curtis Long. An award-winning video, "An American Mailman's Flight for Freedom" was produced by Joseph Huff-Hannon. In his last few weeks before retirement, David Letterman hosted President Obama and delivered the "Top 10 Questions Dumb Guys Ask the President". Number One, was the gyrocopter pilot purportedly asking the Chief Executive: "When will you return my gyrocopter?" Unknown pranksters announced the "Doug Hughes Commemorative Postal Stamp" to the press through a parody web site with a convincing photo of postal executives in front of the US Postal Museum making the announcement.

Whether or not the gyrocopter flight changed anything is uncertain. At the time Hughes flew, the Sanders campaign was just beginning and Senator Sanders was outspoken about income inequality, but less about corruption. In the year after Hughes made his flight, Sanders made a pivot and by 2016 he was adamant in debates and speeches how big money was corrupting democracy. Certainly, Sanders shift wasn't because of Hughes, but just as clearly the political climate had changed. Exactly a year after the Hughes flight, a march from Philadelphia to the US Capitol kicked off a week of peaceful civil disobedience. In the protest dubbed "Democracy Spring" over 1300 arrests were made at the Capitol Building in a protest of "Citizens United".. Hughes had little direct influence in "Democracy Spring", organized by 99Rise, which Hughes could not attend by court order but his influence was there. Among the groups supporting "Democracy Spring" was "Code Pink", the women's peace group. Media Benjamin, co-founder of "Code Pink" said of the assembly of thousands: "I think it's fair to say that this is his [Doug Hughes] baby."

Hughes finished his prison term in October 2016 - he's under federal probation until October 2017. Retired from the US Postal Service, he is reportedly engaged in writing a book and giving speeches. When probation is finished he intends to return to national activism on the corrosive effect of big money in politics and the reform measures he believes are possible and effective.

Marriage and children
Married to Margaret Littrell 1984

Stephanie Hughes (Born 1985)

Edward Hughes (Born 1987)

John Hughes (Born 1988 - Died 2013) C

Married to Alena Makarevich 2002

Katherine Hughes (Born 2003) .

Published works
https //medium.com/indian-thoughts/why-i-wont-ask-for-a-presidential-pardon-b5b9e4cd01a4#.3s8xl0waz

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-flew-a-gyrocopter-onto-the-capitol-lawn-to-save-our-democracy/2015/05/15/072590ae-fb0d-11e4-9030-b4732caefe81_story.html