The Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport employee arrested for attempting to bring an unloaded firearm and knife through a security checkpoint was just days into working as the director of operations, 12 News has learned.

 

Nathan Brown, 48, was taken into custody and charged with possession of a firearm without a permit and possession of a weapon other than a firearm.

 

The firearm, a .40-caliber Glock 22, was discovered after Brown was stopped for a random security inspection, according to a police report.

 

“When informed his bag needed to be searched, he replied, ‘I need to drop something off first,'” the police report states.

 

When Brown was told the bag needed to be searched first, the police report said he “admitted he had an unloaded pistol in the bag.'”

 

Officers did not find any ammunition in Brown’s bag, according to the police report. Brown also told TSA agents he did not mean to bring the gun to work and had forgotten he put it in his bag a few days earlier.

 

The police report adds that officers found a knife with a 4-inch blade after taking possession of Brown’s bag.

 

Brown has an active concealed-carry permit in Washington state, according to the police report, but it is not valid in Rhode Island.

 

Rhode Island Airport Corporation Bill Fischer told 12 News Brown was hired as a contract worker about a month ago.

 

Brown’s attorney John Calcagni told 12 News he was hired to work as the airport’s director of operations.

 

Calcagni said Brown moved to Rhode Island from Washington with his family on Sept. 6, just two days prior to his first day on the job.

 

“Brown was fully cooperative with them throughout the entire process,” Calcagni said, noting that he didn’t try to conceal the weapons or sneak them through the checkpoint.

 

Calcagni said it’s clear Brown’s conduct “was more the product of negligence rather than criminal intent,” and asked the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office to consider the circumstances of the crime before moving forward with a felony prosecution.

 

“Brown has already been terminated as a result of this incident, and now finds himself and his family in a new state, with no real relationships or resources, and now no job,” Calcagni said. “These are very unfortunate circumstances.”

 

See more at wpri.com.