Kansas City area man charged in federal court with illegally bringing gun to protest
Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a Kansas City, Kansas, man with illegally possessing a firearm after he was initially arrested for throwing water bottles at police officers during a protest at the Country Club Plaza.
Matthew E. Madden, 22, was charged in the Western District of Missouri U.S. District Court with one count of being a drug user in possession of a firearm, according to a news release from the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
“Hijacking a peaceful protest by attacking police officers engaged in their duty to protect the public carries significant consequences in this district,” U.S. attorney Tim Garrison said in a news release.
The criminal complaint, according to the news release, alleges Madden had a Glock .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun in his possession on June 2 and that he is a habitual user of marijuana.
Madden walked to the protest from Kansas City, Kansas, to join the peaceful protests, according to the affidavit. He allegedly later told officers that he had “been part of peaceful protests in the past but peaceful protests never achieved anything so he wanted to be heard.”
Law enforcement officers saw Madden throwing water bottles at officers near 47th Street and JC Nichols Parkway and again, later that evening, according to the news release.
When officers approached him and asked him to talk as he walked away from the crowd, he then ran through the park. Officers saw him throw away a black fanny pack they had seen him carry over his shoulder. Officers arrested him on the east side of the park.
When officers found the fanny pack, it had the handgun, loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition, a second magazine with 27 more rounds and 1.2 grams of marijuana inside.
During Madden’s interview with officers, he said he found the fanny pack in the park while at the protest and figured it was a gun because of how it felt. Madden said he never “fully opened it to look inside because of the large group of people around him,” according to the affidavit.
Madden said he knew marijuana was inside because he could smell it, according to the affidavit.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stefan C. Hughes is prosecuting the case. The Kansas City Police Department and the FBI were investigating.
