Man Says Airport Rifle Was Intended as 'Political Statement'

A medical researcher at a renowned neurological hospital who was arrested last month after police say he pointed a loaded rifle toward a woman and her teenage daughter inside Phoenix's main airport said Monday that his firearm "was never pointed at anyone" and he was just trying to make a political statement.

Peter Nathan Steinmetz, 54, was carrying the AR-15 rifle July 25 inside Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport's busy Terminal 4 and bought a cup of coffee before stopping in front of some passenger gates, a court document says.