Waffle House killer was a sovereign citizen who wanted to meet Donald Trump. Update!

Courtesy of USA Today:

The suspected gunman on the run after riddling a Tennessee Waffle House with bullets dubbed himself a "sovereign citizen," before being arrested in July 2017 outside the White House. 

Travis Reinking, 29, used that term — which the FBI has also used to describe a group of anti-government extremists — during a clash last year with the Secret Service, according to a police report obtained by USA TODAY. 

Reinking told agents he needed to see President Trump and defined himself as sovereign citizen who had a right to inspect the grounds, according to an arrest report by the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. He was arrested on an unlawful entry charge after refusing to leave the area. 

The FBI has said sovereign citizens "believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or 'sovereign' from the United States." 

The agency has also defined sovereign citizens as "anti-government extremists who claim the federal government is operating outside its jurisdiction and they are therefore not bound by government authority—including the courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, and even law enforcement."

You may remember that Alaska's own domestic terrorist, Schaeffer Cox, also identifies himself as a sovereign citizen.

So you know, they're crazy.

After that incident at the White House the Secret Service actually took Renking's guns away and gave them to his father. A solution that had only one problem.

Courtesy of Newsweek:

Police said the father of suspected Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking handed his son back an AR-15 found at the scene, after it had been seized by authorities in relation to another incident.

That's right, daddy gave his guns back.

After all this is America, right?

There is at least one hero here and that is the young man who actually disarmed this killer bare handed.

What can really stop a bad guy with a gun? A good guy with quick thinking, bravery and the presence of mind to act. James Shaw is truly a hero. https://t.co/M9M2AesueW via @HuffPost

— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) April 23, 2018

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

James Shaw Jr. said he was dining at the restaurant near Nashville with a friend when suspected gunman Travis Reinking, armed with an AR-15, opened fire at people outside and then inside the establishment just before 3:30 a.m. 

Shaw said he jumped behind a nearby door and suffered a minor gunshot wound to his arm in the process. As he waited to see if he would live or die, Reinking’s gun appeared to jam, giving him a chance to charge.

“It was about that time that I made up my mind ― because there was no way to lock that door ― that if it was going to come down to it, he was going to have to work to kill me,” Shaw said at a press conference. “I rushed him and it actually worked out to my favor.” 

Shaw tackled Reinking and grabbed the gun’s barrel with his bare hand, an act that badly burned him in the process. 

Shaw said he didn’t feel the metal’s scorching heat on his skin. Instead, he continued to grip the firearm before tossing it over a counter. He then proceeded to physically remove Reinking out of the restaurant. Reinking disappeared on foot and remained at large as of late Sunday afternoon. 

Thanks to Mr. Shaw's courage there were not more people killed of wounded in this attack.

However it should be noted that if there had been stricter gun laws, or if  Reinking's dad was not such a fucking idiot, Shaw's life would not have been put at risk in the first place.

Getting a gun, especially an AR-15, should not be as easy as buying a pack of gum.

There should be an extensive background check, a waiting period, and then a viable reason given for why you think you need a gun in the first place.

And if the answer given is I hear voices in my head, my bitch of a wife is getting a little mouthy at home, or I am a sovereign citizen and I want to defend myself in case the government comes to take me away, then the answer should be a resounding "NO!"

Update: They finally caught this asshole.

BREAKING: Travis Reinking apprehended moments ago in a wooded area near Old Hickory Blvd & Hobson Pk. pic.twitter.com/00ukga37s6

— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) April 23, 2018

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

The police said Monday that they had arrested a suspect in the killing of four people at a Waffle House in Nashville, ending a wide search that had unnerved one of the largest cities in the South.

About 160 law enforcement officials had been involved in the search for the suspect, Travis Reinking, 29, who officials said used an AR-15 rifle to carry out a rampage at a restaurant southeast of downtown on Sunday morning. 

The police said they arrested Mr. Reinking on Monday afternoon in a wooded area near the apartment complex where he lived, bringing an end to a manhunt that had stretched into its second day.

Well at least that's some good news.