Repug meeting goes off the rails as ex-candidate pulls gun.

[Mc Mike]

Last edited Mon May 8, 2023, 03:35 PM - Edit history (1)

A meeting went off the rails after Eric Casteel, a former GOP Allegheny County Council candidate, reportedly pulled out a gun and threatened three members of the Plum Borough Republican Committee (PBRC) in Pennsylvania on Thursday night.

Casteel, who ran for a seat on the council in 2021, began yelling at some point during the meeting, which was held at the Plum Community Center and then walked out saying that he would come back, according to the criminal complaint cited by TribLIVE on Friday.

Members of the committee told police that Casteel, 62, walked out of the meeting upset, however no details were provided about whether or not he argued with his fellow Republicans before pulling out the gun. Three committee members followed him out and noticed what appeared to be a gun in his waistband, CBS News reported. They told police that Casteel allegedly followed them with the gun when they turned around and allegedly pointed it at them, threatening to shoot. But, he left after members said they would call the police.

(more at link)

https://www.newsweek.com/republican-meeting-goes-off-rails-ex-candidate-pulls-gun-1797421

On edit, from Betty Bowers:

If Republicans think thoughts and prayers are the answer to stopping mass shootings, not laws, why do they think laws, not thoughts and prayers, are the answer to stopping abortions?

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. "I'm just exercising my 2nd Amendment Rights."

Yeah right you are!

[GPV]

4. I have the right to throw a tantrum via a deadly projectile.

[Srkdqltr]

2. He has the right to carry a gun.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[brush]

3. He doesn't have the right to brandish it ans threaten them with it.

Clearly he was in the wrong or we would'nt be hearing about it.

[Srkdqltr]

6. Of course not. But then why have a gun? That is what it's for.

[brush]

7. So you're talking the contrarian position for gun brandishing and armed threats for what reason?

Last edited Mon May 1, 2023, 09:36 AM - Edit history (1)

[WhiteTara]

8. he forgot

[Captain Zero]

9. Republicans need to experience it first hand. That's why

Otherwise they don't get it.

[Srkdqltr]

10. It's my opinion..that people who have guns are looking for a place to use them.

Not necessarily to shoot someone but to just look tough. Thank goodness he didn't use it.

[brush]

11. I'm trying to figure out if this is tongue-in-cheek and you forgot the sarcasm gif...

or if you're serious and have no clue as to how you're coming off.

[Srkdqltr]

12. How I'm coming off? I don't understand?

[brush]

13. I rest my case.

[Zambero]

5. No big worries

Just a bit of a testosterone-fueled squabble amongst friends coupled with an innocent open-carry thing! What could have possibly gone wrong??

[riversedge]

14. Casteel was arrested at his home ...where authorities found a firearm with a loaded magazine inside

Casteel is in a heap of trouble!


Casteel was arrested at his home on Valley Fields Drive in Plum where authorities found a firearm with a loaded magazine inside his son's car, along with a live round in the chamber, according to the complaint.


The ex-Republican candidate, who currently works as a cybersecurity architect, according to his LinkedIn profile, is facing multiple charges related to the incident, including terrorist threats, reckless endangerment, and simple assault. Casteel was being detained in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of a $25,000 cash bond and faces a preliminary hearing May 10, according to court records, cited by TribLIVE.

Meanwhile, some Republicans have been pushing back against stricter gun safety measures, saying that such calls would violate the Second Amendment, which guarantees "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms."

[FakeNoose]

15. It's interesting that this story wasn't covered in the Piittsburgh Post-Gazette

... which has become more rightwing (endorsed Chump for Potus) than ever. However I didn't hear anything about it on the local TV news either. I guess the other rightwing rag - the Pittsburgh Tribune - is the only one that covers local borough meetings.