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by the way... this is not the artist Thomas Connolly, Kyle's Dad. but he is the same man who broke the Bush drunk driving story a few years back.


SOUTH PORTLAND — Thomas J. Connolly, of Scarborough, a prominent defense attorney and 1998 Democratic candidate for governor was charged with criminal threatening this morning after an incident beside Interstate 295.
South Portland police were notified around 9 a.m. that a man wearing a rubber Osama bin Laden mask was standing on top of a berm along the highway carrying a sign that said “I Love Tabor,” and waving what appeared to be an assault rifle.
Four South Portland officers and two state troopers converged on the man. They drew their guns when he did not respond to their demand that he drop his weapon.
Police said instead he walked toward them dropping plastic hand grenades. His costume included fake dynamite and bandoliers, police said.
He eventually did drop the rifle, which turned out to be a toy and was arrested, at which time the man was identified as Connolly. He was taken to the Cumberland County Jail.
"The whole thing is just incredibly bizarre," said South Portland Police Chief Ed Googins. "It just crossed the line."
Connolly met with reporters briefly after posting bail to secure his release. Criminal threatening is a misdemeanor.
"There was a First Amendment this morning when I woke up. I don't know how it evaporated with the dawn," he said.
Connolly, a Portland attorney, has been known for wearing costumes to make political statements, typically donning a George W. Bush mask and dancing herky-jerky style for passing motorists. His wife has described him as "marvelously eccentric."
But he took it too far with the terrorist outfit, Googins said.
Connolly was carrying a sign that said "I love TABOR," a reference to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights on the ballot a week from today. But at least one of the people who saw it thought it said "I love the Taliban," Googins said.
Officers who arrived on the location of a future ramp at the Westbrook Street exit didn't know what they were dealing with. "There's no way of telling from a distance whether the gun is real or a fake," Googins said.
Police want to make sure charges are pressed. "For someone to think this is an innocent prank, this is not the case," he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.