The man arrested after walking through a Missouri Walmart toting an assault rifle and handgun while wearing body armor is an imbecile.
The 20-year-old man who sent shoppers fleeing after he entered the store with the appearance of being “combat-ready” on Thursday, said he wanted to see whether the store would respect his Second Amendment rights, according to a probable cause statement released Friday.
The imbecile has been identified as Dmitriy Andreychenko. As a result of his foolish stunt, the man is facing a terrorist threat charge for the incident, which comes five days after a gunman walked into a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and opened fire, killing 22 people. The next day, another shooter killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, in an unrelated episode.
The mass murders in El Paso and Dayton, in addition to the rotten, evil hearts of previous killers in recent years, have left America in panic mode. Quite frankly, I cannot find a descriptor accurate enough to describe the stupidity of Andreychenko walking through Walmart in this fashion. Nevertheless, the term imbecile will suffice for now.
In the Missouri incident, Andreychenko started recording himself with his cellphone while still in the parking lot of the Springfield Walmart on Thursday afternoon. He got the body armor from the trunk of his car before grabbing a shopping cart and walked into the store, the probable cause statement said.
A store manager activated a fire alarm, prompting shoppers to flee, police said. An off-duty firefighter apprehended Andreychenko and he was arrested. No shots were fired during the panic-stricken episode.
The probable cause document quoted Andreychenko as saying he “wanted to know if Walmart honored the Second Amendment.” He said he purchased the rifle and body armor because of three recent shootings and a stabbing, and wanted to protect himself.
“Missouri protects the right of people to open-carry a firearm, but that does not allow an individual to act in a reckless and criminal manner endangering other citizens,” Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson said in a statement announcing charges. Patterson compared the actions of the accused to “falsely shouting fire in a theater, causing a panic,” Fox News reported.
Andreychenko faces up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted of the felony charge of making a terrorist threat in the second degree, according to the prosecutor’s office.
If the details presented by the prosecutor’s office prove true, I hope Andreychenko receives all four years in prison. This should give him plenty of time to consider his idiotic stunt. Moreover, I hope a serious sentence dissuades other imprudent people from “exercising their rights” is such a foolish and irresponsible manner.
I am a staunch proponent of the Second Amendment. As a matter of fact, my last editorial was straight talk regarding defensive gun use, which saves lives. And then this brainless individual pulls a reckless stunt like this.
I’m sorry, but at the present time I have no sympathy for this stooge. The trauma he caused is simply inexcusable.
Walmart issued a statement Friday that praised authorities for stopping the incident from escalating. It said Andreychenko is no longer welcome in its stores.
“This was a reckless act designed to scare people, disrupt our business and it put our associates and customers at risk,” said spokeswoman LeMia Jenkins. “We applaud the quick actions of our associates to evacuate customers from our store, and we’re thankful no one was injured.”
Since January 2017, Missouri has not required a permit to openly or conceal carry a firearm for those 19 years or older. Roughly 30 states allow the open carrying of handguns and rifles and shotguns in public without a permit.
For proponents of the Second Amendment, use your brains. Stupid stunts like this will do nothing to endear opponents to your rights. As a matter of fact, it causes legislators to begin crafting news laws to further usurp your ability to keep and bear arms.
– Jim McNeff
Jim worked in military and civilian law enforcement for thirty-one years. While in the USAF he flew as a crewmember aboard the National Emergency Airborne Command Post—a presidential support detail. Following his military service, he served for twenty-eight years with the Fountain Valley Police Department in Orange County, California where he retired as a lieutenant. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Southwest University and graduated from the prestigious Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute as well as the IACP course, Leadership in Police Organizations.
Jim has authored three books: The Spirit behind Badge 145, Justice Revealed, and Jurisdiction.
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