Man With AR-15 Rifle Tried To Enter MacDill Air Force Base: U.S. DOJ

TAMPA, FL — A Tampa man was arrested for trying to enter MacDill Air Force Base with an AR-15 rifle and ammunition, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Baruch Roche II was charged with one count of attempted possession of a firearm in a federal facility. He faces up to one year in federal prison if convicted.

Roche was stopped by U.S. Air Force security personnel at the entrance to MacDill on Nov. 3.
When they asked him for identification, he refused to provide it, saying he was “Captain America,” and demanding entry, the DOJ said.

He told them that he had a meeting with the general of the U.S. Special Operations Command to provide top-secret information. He argued with security and threatened to come back every day to look for the officers denying him entry.

Security detained Roche because of his “suspicious behavior” and searched his car, the DOJ said.

They found the rifle and five magazines loaded with 125 pounds of ammunition in the trunk.