Man with chainsaw and other weaponry is allowed into the U.S.

news.yahoo.com...;_ylt=AqfH6ROA1ImFHAo682qvtWWs0NUE;_ylu=X3o'___'A2MTQ3MTFjBHNlYwN0cw#

BOSTON - On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres. Then they let him into the United States.

The following day, a gruesome scene was discovered in Despres' hometown of Minto, New Brunswick: The decapitated body of a 74-year-old country musician named Frederick Fulton was found on Fulton's kitchen floor. His head was in a pillowcase under a kitchen table. His common-law wife was discovered stabbed to death in a bedroom.

Despres, 22, immediately became a suspect because of a history of violence between him and his neighbors, and he was arrested April 27 after police in Massachusetts saw him wandering down a highway in a sweat shirt with red and brown stains. He is now in jail in Massachusetts on murder charges, awaiting an extradition hearing next month.

At a time when the United States is tightening its borders, how could a man toting what appeared to be a bloody chain saw be allowed into the country?

Bill Anthony, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the Canada-born Despres could not be detained because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and was not wanted on any criminal charges on the day in question.

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.

"Nobody asked us to detain him," Anthony said. "Being bizarre is not a reason to keep somebody out of this country or lock them up. ... We are governed by laws and regulations, and he did not violate any regulations."

Anthony conceded it "sounds stupid" that a man wielding what appeared to be a bloody chain saw could not be detained. But he added: "Our people don't have a crime lab up there. They can't look at a chain saw and decide if it's blood or rust or red paint."

Sgt. Gary Cameron of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police would not comment on whether it was, in fact, blood on the chain saw.

its so stupid to conceive that a person with a blooded chainsaw be allowed into the U.S. even if he aint a terrorist u dink they could at least arrest him of suspicion. imagine an Arab with C-4 explosives and a blooded knife being stop by Custom officials but still let him in cause he wasnt on the FBI wanted list or that there were no orders to arrest him. i be laughing if they say they afraid if they arrest him, the news media would accuse them of discrimination.


Mod edit =--to fix link)

[edit on 7-6-2005 by asala]

Canadian security into the US is super lax. I travel there for work occasionally (mostly Toronto and Halifax) and found a full length sewing scissors beyond security, sitting nicely in the center of the garbage can in an unfolded plastic bag. I immediately alerted security, who went over to check it out. Obviously, security had failed. In the US, the expected reaction? All flights delayed and everyone in the terminals gets rescreened. We didn't hear heads nor tails about it. I let homeland security know about it, and they have me on standby for an interview if they ever need to, but I haven't heard a thing since December.

The problem is that it's legal to have all those items on you, and it's legal to be covered in blood. They confiscated the "weapons" and allowed a US citizen covered in blood back across the border.

You can't arrest someone if you don't have a reason, and being suspicious or weird is not a reason.

Make note:

U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres. Then they let him into the United States.

Not Canadian customs agents...