Facing prison, Capitol copter pilot vows campaign cash protest goes on

The last time Florida mailman Doug Hughes came to Washington D.C., he landed a gyrocopter on the west lawn of the Capitol, in a high-risk protest of the nation’s lax campaign finance laws that miraculously evaded the strict security apparatus around one of the nation’s most closely-guarded buildings.

When he arrives in Washington on Thursday for a court hearing, he will take a more understated approach, driving north from his home in Ruskin, Fla., after more than a month of house arrest. On Wednesday, Hughes was indicted by a federal grand jury on six charges related to the incident, including two felonies. He faces up to 9-and-a-half years in prison.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Wednesday, Hughes, 61, said that he believed his act of civil disobedience was a success. If the flight didn’t “save our democracy” — as he declared was his intention in a recent Washington Post editorial — he hopes it at least inspired others concerned about the corrosive influence of money in politics to take action.  

“There are a lot of people who saw that money in politics is a problem but didn’t know how to get involved. I wanted to let them know that we can do something about this,” he said. “The message is we can always do something.”

Since his high-risk expedition, Hughes has been inundated — and eager to court — media attention, appearing on major news networks, although many have given more weight to the security lapse than to the reason for Hughes' flight. Admirers and detractors have also gotten in touch. He said a former Marine mailed him a check for $100 but added in a post-script that he would have shot the gyrocopter down.

Hughes said he has watched with increasing frustration as multi-million campaign contributions and special interests have consumed the political process, and that he believes it’s the root of most government dysfunction. “Whether your thing is climate change or the amount of money being spent of the military, you’re probably paralyzed by special interests, no matter what it is you’re trying to get done or trying to stop.”

Campaign spending has ballooned in recent years, particularly in the aftermath of the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision, which opened the door to unlimited outside spending. The FEC estimated that the 2012 election cost $7 billion, up from the $5.3 billion spent in 2008. The 2014 midterm elections cost approximately $4 billion, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Hughes doesn’t necessarily recommend that people imitate his example in protest. But he is supportive of acts of civil disobedience or other forms of less-dramatic action.  

“I’m not critical of people doing the mundane things, but I watched people doing it for a long time, but it wasn’t enough to move the needle,” he said. “What this has done is brought the issue of the forefront of the discussion.”

Rachel Butler, democracy campaigner for Greenpeace who is supportive of Hughes, said the few hours that the gyrocopter captivated the attention of the capital and the national media illustrated another point.

“Doug’s flight is a great example of what it takes to be heard by Congress and by our system right now when you don’t have a billion dollars to write a bunch of campaign checks,” Butler said.

For now, Hughes must concentrate his energies on staving off a stiff prison sentence.

“I am concerned about what’s going to come out of this. I will emphasize that there was no property damage, there was no injury, and clearly and obviously my motives were to reform Congress and return the control to the people,” he said.  “I’m biased, of course, but I don’t think jail time is necessary.”

If he walks away a free man, Hughes’s flying days will be over, but his work on campaign finance reform will continue.

“I’m just getting started,” he said.