Jon Stewart blasts Secret Service: “History’s most advanced and somewhat nefarious security network” got fooled by a weirdo in a gyrocopter

Only in America, emails get analyzed like Shakespeare -- and a man can land a gyrocopter on the Capitol lawn

Published April 22, 2015 2:11PM (EDT)

     (Comedy Central)
(Comedy Central)

Earlier this month, a postal worker from Florida was arrested after flying his gyrocopter at low-altitude into one of the most restricted and monitored civilian airspaces in the U.S.: the U.S. capitol grounds. Even more perplexing, not a single person intervened after the man publicly announced his grand gyrocoptering plans in a 2013 blog post and again in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times. Not even the secret service who, Hughes also allegedly gave a casual "heads up" to.

On Tuesday's "Daily Show," Jon Stewart slammed Secret Service for turning a blind eye to the "giant needle" being waved at them while they rummaged through the haystack.

"Let me get this straight," Stewart said."Our every email gets analyzed like a newly discovered Shakespeare play. But when a guy sends you his explicit plan to violate red zone D.C. airspace, that information is like the iTunes user agreement -- scroll, scroll, scroll. Whatever. Agree! I don't care."

If this low-flying gyrocopter isn't enough to prompt some serious homeland security reform, maybe the recent news story of a 4-year-old crawling onto the White House lawn without intervention will.

Watch the clip below:


By Colin Gorenstein

Colin Gorenstein is Salon's assistant editor of internet and viral content. Follow @colingorenstein or email cgorenstein@salon.com.

MORE FROM Colin Gorenstein


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Homeland Security Jon Stewart Nsa Security The Daily Show Video