An Armed Man Spouting A Bizarre Right-Wing Conspiracy Theory Was Arrested After A Standoff At The Hoover Dam
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
An armed man was arrested Friday after driving an armored vehicle onto a bridge spanning the Hoover Dam and blocking traffic to demand the government “release the OIG report," a call spouted by believers of an internet conspiracy theory, in a 90-minute standoff with authorities.
Images captured during the standoff showed the driver parking a black armored truck across the southbound lanes of the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge at the Arizona–Nevada border around noon, snarling traffic.
The driver was identified as 30-year-old Matthew P. Wright of Henderson, Nevada, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
In a statement, the department said Wright reportedly stood outside of the vehicle holding a sign that read "release the OIG report." The demand appears to refer to an unredacted Justice Department inspector general report, which the bizarre right-wing conspiracy theory known as "QAnon" suggests will expose the "deep state," a supposed shadowy network entrenched in the government.
In a video apparently filmed inside the vehicle and posted online by far-right activist Laura Loomer, the man says, "No more lies. No more bullshit. We the people demand full disclosure."
"We elected you to do a duty," the man continues, apparently addressing President Trump. "You said you were going to lock certain people up when you were elected. You have yet to do that."
Authorities closed the bridge and all lanes of US Route 93. Just before 1 p.m., the armored truck left the bridge and began traveling southbound on the highway, failing to stop for law enforcement. The truck ran over tire strips and eventually came to a stop on a dirt road several miles southeast of the bridge.
Wright exited the vehicle and was taken into custody without incident, authorities said. A rifle and a handgun were found inside the truck.
Wright was booked into the Mohave County Jail on charges of obstruction of a highway, endangerment, unlawful flight from law enforcement, misconduct involving a weapon, and making terrorist threats.
Mark Mills, a truck driver who was stuck in traffic during the standoff, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he became panicked when he saw the armored truck blocking traffic.
“I wasn’t sure if he was trying to blow up the bridge or what,” he recalled.
Tags
Who is online
106 visitors
He's pissed because Trump didnt lock her up and wanted to blow up the Hoover Dam as his recourse. Ain't trumpsters grand?
If he was on the bridge he was a distance from the actual dam. Depending on the amount of explosives he could have brought the bridge down but I doubt that he could have caused serious damage to the dam...The bridge would be bad enough..
If he had driven across the dam, that would be a different story. There are serious check points at both ends of the dam so he probably went for the bridge since there are no check points there.
I lived about 20 miles from there in the same place this nut lives, Henderson..
Anyhow, another fricking nut case. It seems that the US has a serious population of crazies.
If he was on the bridge he was a distance from the actual dam
It's the thought that counts.
Ha!!!
Scary, I have relatives in Henderson....
Shows how many nutjobs believe trump and fox news lies.
I haven't seen any evidence in any of the coverage that he had explosives.
Tos Violation "BF"
E.A this is Worth Keeping , Into the Blog it goes, many thanks
If he had been a Muslim trying to blow up the damn you would be saying " We don't know the entire story yet let's wait for all the facts before passing judgment "
Arrest him, indict him and try him in a civil court. Then toss him over the dam.
using that term does not go well with your usual complaining
I have to live with violent idiots like this and I'm tired of them being coddled by politicians and the media.
I agree with throw him off the dam
White trash is a racial slur
Don't you have to be non-white for that comment to be racist? Context is critical.
If one of the members here that you regularly disagree with had used a comparable slur about people you favor, what would you say about them?
Would he be referring to someone of his own race or of a different race?
how does that matter?
OK, I am sorry for offending you. I won't do it again.
I'll even voluntarily take 3 days off if it makes you feel better.
epistte, I agree with you on many things and consider you a NT friend. I am not offended or mad.
It struck me only because way you critical of others for things like that.
NT would not be same without you, no need to stay away
Fill this form out and return it to my recently hired VP of customer service. If you have a problem with anything that I have said go to Helen Waite.
Thank you.
Helen Waite, she worked for me before I retired. Once a problem was referred to her, we never heard about it again.
Do you feel threatened by my presence on NT?
Most deplorables are threatened by strong independent women with minds of their own.
You want to execute a guy for blocking traffic. How many thousands of Black Lives Matter protestors would you have murdered?
Obviously none.
You don't get sarcasm, again, and again.
No, you don't get that you don't get to say something sick with no sarc tag, reiterate it a couple times, and only claim sarcasm after a bunch of people give you shit for it. That's called bullshit.
Your words, nobody else's:
And by the way, if THIS is true,
we all pretty much have license to dismiss almost anything you say from now on, because you just admitted that you're just here to troll people.
Goodness me! Where's the poster who constantly complains about NT'ers making the topic about her/him?
Do not ever accuse me of trolling. What I would do to trolls would be prohibited to the Geneva conventions on war.
It is not my problem that you are somehow intellectually unable to differentiate between trolling and sarcasm.
This is trolling,
And when called on an outrages statements you always try to back out it, again, and again by saying it was sarcasm when in fact it exposed your true feelings.
My bias against stupid and violent people who believe conspiracy theories? How will I ever live down that horrific part of my character?
I missed another juicy reply, again.
Your solution is simple. Use the sarcasm tag. Why are you resisting that?
The best of humor always carries a grain of truth.
When I reply to you in the future I will always use the sarcasm tag.
s/.
What is the difference between a TOS violation and a CoC violation?
One is stupid and petty, the other is petty and stupid.
How many crisp $20.00s do I need to mail to Badfish to make it go away?
He'll probably want at least 5 of those
I could put in a 6-pack of local microbrew if you think that it might help? Guys tend to go for that sort of thing.
That might work. Don't forget the weed
Weed is still illegal in Ohio thanks to Republican Mike DeWine who has a 16th-century stick up his butt. Think Jeff Sessions w/o the obvious racism.
Arkansas passed Medical Cannabis back in November 2016 and no dispensaries are dispensing. Florida passed MC at the same time and people are getting their medicine there already.
They decriminalized weed in Ohio for less than one ounce but they won't allow medical or recreational weed because the GOP use that issue to pander to the religious conservatives. Weed and abortion are the most common social issues to keep the Christian Taliban happy and voting Republican.
hope you aren't mad at me
nope.
Although I haven't smoked weed in over 20 years I'm all for decriminalizing it for all users. BTW, I'm both Christian and conservative.
Bigotry.
Me too.
I have noticed that when medical weed is legalized there are a lot more sick people all of sudden.
The GOP's support for sexual, racial and religious bigotry is not new.
The evidence suggests otherwise,
.
.
It is! and I think the irony was lost on some.
You calling people Taliban just because you disagree with them on some political issues is bigotry. But you knew that.
Once again you are very wrong. I am referring to them as the Christian Taliban, because like the Taliban, they seek to legislate their draconian religious beliefs as secular law. We have a separation of church and state in the First Amendment that prevents others from having to obey your religious belifs or those beliefs of anyone esle. If you want to wear a hair shirt and a crown of thorns, go ahead but do not think for one moment that you will be permitted to force others to obey your religious beliefs or to have them enforced by the state.
The freedom of religion means the equal freedom for all people in the US to live and believe as they wish. Despite what you want to believe, it is not the freedom for the religious majority to enforce their religious idiocy on everyone else. Your religious rights are not being trampled on because you are prevented from trampling on the religious and secular rights of everyone else.
Seems like a very accurate analogy given that the Christian Taliban shares most of the same values as the Afghan Taliban, including the use of the state to enforce their sharia laws.
they think it's cute. why do they hate Christians?
I have a deep-seated hatred of hypocrites.
When was Jesus a violent bigot?
So do I flag you for that sexist comment or pop open another beer?
It recently turned 5:00pm EDT, so drink it if you got it.
I think "another" is the operative word here.
The man didn't have any explosives so it's obvious he didn't want to blow up the dam. The guy is pissed off at Trump that should make you as happy as a speckled puppy in a red wagon.
The man didn't have any explosives so it's obvious he didn't want to blow up the dam.
In all the excitement he probably forgot to put them in the truck.
Actually he did have explosives. He was full of hot air/gas like many righties.
I guess he had lunch at Taco Bell?
A Guide to QAnon, the New King of Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories
George Soros, the Illuminati, and Snow White are all controlling the world according to a 4channer who has spawned a legion of supersleuths
Ah shit, I was convinced that is was Warren Buffet supported by MSN and the Clinton Foundation.
Curses, foiled again.
I thought the Mason's were involved as well.
Shhhhh, that's top secret. They are the un named 3rd party...covfefe
Damn, I didn't get the memo on that. Sorry.
Covfefe Beast..
I was kind of hoping that a secret basement in a pizza parlor would be part of the conspiracy.
Is there a secret room inside of the dam for Hillary and friends?
Hahaha!!!
I came across an article about QAnon a couple months ago. It was too bizarrely stupid (even for this forum) for me to post. Some people's brains are like playdoh when it comes to being easily manipulated.
And here I thought that it was ALEC and the Kochs that were the deep state.
Ummm, Mr. Nutjob, for future reference, someone has to actually commit a crime to be locked up.
Wow! A MAGA bot that resembles Taliban. This is great.
In what way?
He has a striking resemblance to these Taliban members, except for his skin color.
Those guys are all pretty white. Are you telling me the Vegas guy is black?
Weirdo. I guess he got the attention he wanted, but blocking traffic isn't usually an effective way to get people on your side.
The (famous) water intakes are located behind the dam in the Black canyon
and are specifically designed to keep out trash of all sorts, including people, so if the guy could swim, it would just be a 'symbolic' toss into deep water./s