Cody Wilson resigns from Defense Distributed, attorneys focusing on defense
AUSTIN, Texas - It wasn't Cody Wilson who walked through those doors Tuesday morning into a Defense Distributed press conference.
"Cody Wilson tendered his resignation on Friday evening to focus on personal legal affairs. Defense Distributed board of directors accepted his resignation and thus his role at the company has been completed," said new Defense Distributed Director and Ghost Gunner CEO Paloma Heindorff.
Heindorff has spent the last 3 years with D.D. working as Director of Development and VP of Operations.
"In my view I found it to be the most elegant and effective activism that I'd seen performed and I wanted to be a part of that," Heindorff said.
Heindorff wouldn't go near questions relating to Cody Wilson's sexual assault charge.
"I'm not answering anything related to this case," she said.
To recap, Wilson has been in the national spotlight since 2013 when he put blueprints for a 3D-printed plastic gun called "The Liberator" online.
The Federal government demanded he take the plans down. This year a deal was reached that would finally make them available again. But a U.S. District Judge extended a temporary restraining order until the legal case is resolved.
In August, Wilson told the press that order only stopped him from giving the files away so instead he would be selling them, e-mailing them, or using a secure transfer. Name your own price.
"I will be doing all of those things now. My congratulations to the Attorneys General for saving America," Wilson said at an August press conference.
But then came a warrant for Wilson's arrest. A 16-year-old victim came forward saying the two connected on sugardaddymeet.com, had sex at a north Austin hotel and then Wilson paid her $500.
"They were able to confirm each step of the victim's story with videotape and interviews," said Austin Police Commander Troy Officer last week.
An international manhunt ensued. Wilson was arrested in Taiwan, brought back to Texas this weekend and freed on a $150,000 bond.
Heindorff says they'll continue the sale of the blueprints.
"We had about 3,000 orders, I'm really pleased to say that our team has been shipping them out like crazy. We've got about 1500 out at the moment, 1500 to ship and of course we're still selling," Heindorff said.
Clearly Defense Distributed has a mission that includes the Second Amendment and freedom of information. I asked Heindorff if having the controversial Wilson out of the way will make it easier to get things done in the future. That wasn't something she was interested in answering.
"You don't know whether I do yet. I'm not really going to comment on that," she said. "I'm a different person. I'm not trying to replace him as a character. That's not my aim."
The Travis County District Attorney's office tells Fox 7 Austin they haven't set a date yet for a grand jury review of Wilson's case.
Wilson's attorney released a statement today saying they expect Defense Distributed to continue to grow and do its work. In the meantime, they plan to focus on Cody's defense.