'Civil disorder' charges for supporting 'birther' cause?

An appeal has been promised of a convoluted federal court result in which a defendant was convicted of ferrying guns across state lines, from his home in Georgia to Madisonville, Tenn., without using them.

The controversy involves a Georgia man, Darren W. Huff, who this week was convicted by a jury of the weapons charge. He was ordered to be held in jail until a sentencing hearing in February.

The AP reported that federal authorities alleged Huff, 41, was involved in a plot to take over a Tennessee courthouse and "force President Barack Obama out of office," but the jury disagreed, convicting only on a count of carrying a firearm in interstate commerce for a "civil disorder."

Huff was acquitted on a charge of using a firearm in a felony.

Scott Green, Huff's defense counsel, told U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan that he would appeal, and said the conviction was based more on comments from Huff than anything else.

Huff had been stopped by Tennessee law enforcement officers in April 2010 and he reportedly told them he was en route to support efforts to arrest Monroe County officials who refused to allow a grand jury to consider allegations against Obama.

The AP reported that officers said Huff was carrying a loaded Colt .45 plus an assault rifle and ammunition. Huff testified in court that he was en route to help Walter Fitzpatrick, a Tennessee retiree who was placed under arrest when he tried to make a citizen's arrest on a grand jury foreman.

But Huff testified not only did he not "take over" any courthouse, "I have never made a statement about taking over the courthouse, the city, the state, nothing."

News reports repeatedly refer to Huff as part of a Georgia militia and the "birther" movement, the E.W. Scripps Co. reported. But Green argued Huff was being prosecuted for what he said, because he had a permit to carry his weapons.

The Scripps report said Huff had discussed going to Madisonville, Tenn., to protest the arrest of Fitzpatrick, who unsuccessfully attempted a citizen's arrest on grand jury foreman Gary Pettway.

Fitzpatrick reportedly attempted the action because Pettway refused to allow discussion about Obama, whose credentials to qualify under the Constitution's requirement for the presidency remain cloudy.

Scripps reported the law Huff was convicted of violating was adopted in the 1960s the deter civil disobedience.

The jury's determination left even editors scrambling to explain. Said The Blaze in a headline, "Georgia 'Birther' Convicted in Plot to Take Over Tenn Courthouse." The text of the story then said, "The Georgia man was … acquitted of using his .45-caliber handgun and Ak-47 assault rifle to take over a Monroe County courthouse in April 2010 …"

"You people REALLY must HATE 'birthers' … YOU MAKE UP HEADLINES THE DIRECT OPPOSITE OF YOUR STORY QUOTES!!" said one comment on a forum page after the story.

According to a report in the Post & Email, one of the witnesses in the trial wrote, "This case is no laughing matter as it will set precedence for future 'Thought Crimes' prosecutions."

The witness continued, "There is no law stating that a lawful firearms owner cannot transport his firearms in a personal vehicle. Huff fired no shots and stated that he never announced nor intended a plan to 'take over' the Monroe County courthouse."