đź’° Iowa police chief kept and sold department machine guns, officials say

TL;DR

In total, Wendt purchased 10 weapons for his police department, attempted to buy 15 more and requested the demonstration of 65 additional firearms from various licensed dealers, the indictment alleges.Twenty-seven more were acquired by other licensed dealers, whom prosecutors allege were friends or business associates of Wendt’s, including Williams.In January 2021, Wendt signed a demonstration request for a .50-caliber machine gun for “special operations and high-risk prisoner transportation details” — despite Adair police not conducting such operations — that allowed a Las Vegas-based dealer to acquire the machine gun, the indictment alleges.In February, Wendt posted videos on his Facebook page of someone firing a Humvee-mounted machine gun at two empty cars in a field and a woman at a range firing a submachine gun — one that the indictment alleges is a police-registered firearm — with the caption “come shoot mp7 April 16th,” punctuated with a smiling emoji.Upon being turned down by a manufacturer, he obtained a quote to have a minigun built from a second manufacturer and, as police chief, requested a demonstration of the gun through BW Outfitters, his own business, writing that the weapon was “suitable for engagements and suppressive fire,” according to the indictment."

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