Police have arrested an 84-year-old man accused of pointing a gun at anti-President Barack Obama protestors.
Roy Smith said he kept the Colt .32 handgun in his car for carjackers. Gwinnett police said he faces three counts of misdemeanor simple assault and pointing a firearm at another.
Protestors Toni Pendley and Marge Moore are part of the Overpasses for Obama’s Impeachment movement, a national movement that places signs along interstate overpasses with anti-Obama messages.
The women said they were protesting on the Steve Reynolds Overpass above Interstate 85 on Sept. 28 when a maroon car drove by and a man pointed a gun at them.
“He was looking straight at me,” Pendley told Channel 2 Action News last week.
A passerby also spotted the gun and call 911. He reported the license tag number. Detectives said they used the tag number to track down Smith at his Norcross home.
In a police report, a detective writes Smith wasn’t home at first but his car was parked in the driveway. Using a search warrant, police found the handgun inside the driver’s side door. It matched the description witnesses gave to police.
In the police report, an investigator said Smith stated “he kept the weapon in the vehicle for the carjackers. He stated that he had the gun with him on the day of the incident, but stated that he did not present it to the protestors.” He “stated that everyone was lying on him in an attempt to get him into trouble.”
“Not your typical suspect,” conceded Gwinnett Police Cpl. Ed Ritter.
In the Sheriff’s Department mugshot of Smith, he is shown with a tube running into his nose like one that is typically used for oxygen tanks.
“Doesn’t matter what his age was, he still threatened somebody with that gun and he is being held accountable for it,” Ritter said.
Channel 2’s Tony Thomas stopped by Smith’s home Tuesday, but he wasn’t home. The maroon car was once again parked there.
Smith is free on $1,000 bond.
