Maroc - RAWSTORY.COM - Raw Story - 15/Aug 20:03

Far-right lawyers use mentally ill veteran to break down gun protection laws: report

A mentally ill veteran whose hoarded the body of a dead dog, pieces of bombs and an arsenal of weapons on his Maryland property — on which multiple fires have broken out — is being used by far-right activists to break down American gun protection laws, according to a new investigative report. Donald Willey — a veteran diagnosed with ADHD who admitted to debilitating depression on an episode of "Hoarding: Buried Alive" — has become the poster child of the Second Amendment Foundation group's fight against red-flag laws in nearly two dozen states, Rolling Stone and nonprofit newsroom the Trace reported Thursday. ALSO READ: Sen. John Fetterman violates financial law with botched corporate bond disclosures“If I had to choose who would commit a mass shooting in our area,” resident Eddie Dean reportedly said, “it would be Donny Willey.”The Second Amendment Foundation is challenging red-flag laws — which allows the government to confiscate guns from people who present an extreme safety risk — after a public official raised concerns that Willey might shoot her, according to the report.The law allowed Susan Webb, a local assistant director of planning and zoning, to request Willey receive mental care at a local hospital and that his three rifles, three pistols, two double-barrel shotguns, and seven boxes of ammunition taken away, the report states.Willey was reportedly without his weapons for 12 days. Now the Second Amendment Foundation is painting Willey as the victim of a power-drunk public servant manipulating an unconstitutional law.Their lawsuit describes Willey as a “decorated combat veteran" trapped in a “Kafkaesque experience" and claims Webb used “false and malicious" lies in an effort to win her "pound of flesh," according to the report.The group's efforts have caught the attention of powerful Republicans such as Sen. Ted Cruz, who in 2021 asserted red-flag bills were “being pushed by Democrats and gun-control activists” to “deprive Americans” of a “fundamental right.” Meanwhile, Willey wasn't the only person making Webb fearful for her safety, Rolling Stone reports.YouTube show host Jared Yanis, a former cop with more than 700,000 subscribers, told his viewers to fight red-flag laws and called out Webb by name as a "county Karen."Viewers commented, “Karen needs to be terminated for abuse of authority and do some time in the county jail for perjury."And one of Willey's neighbors opted to move rather live next to a him any longer. “He comes after us when he thinks we are the ones complaining to the county," one neighbor told Webb. "My mental, physical, and emotional well-being has been so effected … that all I do is cry.”