One of at least six individuals from the state of Michigan arrested in Washington, D.C. this week in connection with protests over the 2020 election wasn’t in our nation’s capitol to back Donald Trump, but to “keep an eye” on Trump supporters, according to his father.
25-year old Logan Grimes was busted with a handgun, “high capacity” magazine, and “unregistered ammunition” on Wednesday afternoon about a 1 /2 miles from the Capitol, near the District’s Chinatown neighborhood. In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Robert Grimes described his son as a “gun hobbyist” who’s always followed Michigan law, and blamed the president for his son’s arrest.
“Now thanks to that man that I just despise, Donald Trump — who I did not vote for and did everything I could to make sure he would finally leave office — has served me up one last injustice by making sure my son got arrested so he could stick his pride out,” he said.
Sorry, Mr. Grimes, but just as Antifa didn’t make people storm the Capitol, Donald Trump didn’t make your son drive from Michigan to Washington, D.C. with his guns and ammunition. He’s a grown adult capable of making his own decisions, and in this case, he decided unwisely.
I happen to think that Washington, D.C. gun laws are abysmally unconstitutional, but for the moment anyway they’re still on the books; even that absurd provision that makes it a crime to possess any ammunition in a different caliber from a legally-owned firearm registered with the D.C. police. It was up to Logan Grimes to know the laws of the District before he hopped in his car and headed east.
The elder Grimes became aware his son was headed to Washington, D.C., from a post on Facebook, he said. When he saw the unrest, he hoped his son wasn’t in it…
“I’m hoping a lot of stuff will come forward that my son was probably trying to do the right thing in the wrong way at the wrong time,” he said.
Robert Grimes won’t want to hear this (and probably won’t accept it), but the excuse he gave for his son is the same excuse being offered by the friends and family of many of those who stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday. They too believe that their loved one was trying to do the right thing in the wrong way at the wrong time.
Now the question is whether the criminal justice system in Washington, D.C. will treat Logan Grimes any differently than they treat others suspected of violating the District’s gun laws. Remember a few days ago when Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee warned Rep. Lauren Boebert about carrying her gun on the streets of D.C.?
What I will say to that is there are no exceptions in the District of Columbia, with the exception of being able to carry on U.S. Capitol Police property,” he said. “We plan to reach out to the congresswoman’s office to make sure that she is aware what the laws of the District of Columbia are, what the restrictions are.”
“That congresswoman… will be subjected to the same penalties for anyone else that’s caught on a District of Columbia street carrying a firearm unlawfully.”
Will the same hold true for Logan Grimes? So far that appears to be the case, but I’m very curious to see what happens once prosecutors take over from D.C. police. Back in June the U.S. Attorney’s office dropped charges against dozens of people arrested during riots in Washington sparked by the death of George Floyd, and I wouldn’t be shocked or surprised at this point if Grimes saw his charges reduced or dismissed as well, even as acting U.S Attorney Michael Sherwin ponders charges of sedition for those arrested after storming the Capitol.
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