Read Just 2 Seconds Online

Authors: Gavin de Becker,Thomas A. Taylor,Jeff Marquart

Just 2 Seconds (78 page)

1244.
Date: February 24, 1996
Target: Governor Mike Foster
Details: Seven thousand people rallied at the state capitol to protest Foster's stand against affirmative action. Marchers shouted, "Kill the beast!" A delegation was allowed to deliver demands to the door of the Governor's Mansion. They tried to push their way inside once the door was opened, but SWAT officers kept them out.

1245.
Date: March 25, 1996
Target: Governor George Pataki
Location: Albany, New York
Details: Reverend Al Sharpton led a protest group and built a cardboard city on the lawn of the Capitol Building. About 1,000 attended the rally to protest budget cuts. On March 27, the group stormed the State Assembly's chambers.

1246.
Date: April 24, 1996
Target: Former President Mikhail Gorbachev
Location: Siberia, Russia
Details: While campaigning for reelection, Gorbachev was punched in the head by a drunken man. He was held for psychiatric evaluation.

1247.
Date: June 27, 1996
Target: President Bill Clinton
Location: New York, New York
Details: A federal judge ruled that police could no longer take signs away from peaceful protesters outside security zones. He ruled that New York City police violated a man's free-speech rights when they seized his sign at a Clinton event in 1993. It read, "Mr. Clinton: STOP CAMPAIGNING AND LEAD!" The judge also ruled that police can't send protesters to "pro" or "anti" areas based on the protesters' views, unless officers think violence would result.

1248.
Date: July 17, 1996
Target: Governor Parris Glendening
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
Details: Police arrested a man who was trying to pry open the gates to the Governor's Mansion at 2:23 a.m. When they confronted him, he ignored them and continued to pry the gate.

1249.
Date: August 29, 1996
Target: Governor Parris Glendening
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
Details: A man was arrested after he placed an envelope addressed to Glendening in a cigarette urn at the Capitol entrance. It contained a disposable tablecloth and printed materials. On August 5, the same man left a package for Glendening outside a basement window of the Capitol. It contained two wires, an alligator clip, some printed material, and a diaper. EOD teams removed both hoax devices after the Capitol was evacuated.

1250.
Date: September 17, 1996
Target: Pop Singer Bjork
Location: Miami, Florida
Details: An obsessed fan mailed Bjork a book booby-trapped to squirt sulfuric acid in her eyes when she opened it. He then videotaped himself committing suicide, while listening to her music. Police found his body and viewed videotapes, one of which showed him making the booby-trapped book. Scotland Yard intercepted the package at the post office and destroyed it.

1251.
Date: September 22, 1996
Target: Pope John Paul II
Location: Paris, France
Details: Five thousand demonstrators marched during the Pope's visit, protesting him and the French government for paying for his security and aircraft.

1252.
Date: October 19, 1996
Target: Parliament Members
Location: Canberra, Australia
Details: An angry mob of 25,000 protesters smashed their way into Parliament with wooden planks, hand tools, and a trolley. They rushed past police lines, smashing windows. They were angry about planned budget cuts.

1253.
Date: October 28, 1996
Target: Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan
Details: Over 2,000 religious students, demanding the resignation of Bhutto, tried to storm the Parliament Building before being fought off by police and soldiers. They accused Bhutto of rampant corruption and mismanagement.

1254.
Date: November 9, 1996
Target: Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi
Location: Rangoon, Burma
Details: A mob of about 200 people attacked the motorcade carrying Kyi and other pro-democracy opposition leaders. They beat on their cars with fists and sticks, smashing windows and denting fenders.

1255.
Date: December 23, 1996
Target: CIA Headquarters
Location: McLean, Virginia
Details: An unemployed defense consultant drove into the CIA's main entrance so fast that police could not activate a pop-up barrier. The truck barreled across the grass and up the steps before hitting a handrail and stopping 15 feet from the lobby. As he was arrested, the man threatened to kill President Clinton. Thankfully, the truck did not contain explosives.

1256.
Date: January 10, 1997
Target: Parliament
Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
Details: About 50,000 protesters mobbed Parliament, demanding new elections. Riot police had to rescue over 100 trapped legislators. Protesters broke into offices, smashed furniture and computers, and set an office on fire.

1257.
Date: February 2, 1997
Target: Governors' Meeting
Location: Washington, D.C.
Details: About 20 handicapped protesters blocked the lobby of the hotel where 48 governors were attending a National Governors' Association meeting. Police forcibly removed them.

1258.
Date: February 5, 1997
Target: President Abdala Bucaram
Location: Quito, Ecuador
Details: Two million protesters marched in the streets to protest the government's austerity program. Two people were injured by gunshots outside Congress. Bucaram is called "El Loco," because of his flamboyant personality. He barricaded himself in the palace.

1259.
Date: February 7, 1997
Target: Parliament
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Details: A man screaming about devil worshipers rammed his jeep up several flights of stairs leading into Parliament. He jumped out and stormed into the lobby where 20 to 30 security officers overpowered him.

1260.
Date: February 12, 1997
Target: Governor Zell Miller
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Details: Activists barged into Miller's office and taped hundreds of pictures of children to the walls of the waiting room to protest welfare-reform measures.

1261.
Date: February 18, 1997
Target: President Sali Berisha
Location: Lushnja, Albania
Details: After making a speech to supporters at a small theater, Berisha was leaving and walked out to find over 1,000 people waiting for him, and mistook them for supporters. He went toward them until they started whistling and heckling, and he saw they were protesters.

1262.
Date: April 21, 1997
Target: Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Location: Hong Kong
Details: Saboteurs damaged Hong Kong's showpiece Tsing-Ma bridge, the world's longest road-rail suspension link, barely a week before Thatcher was to declare it open. Police said the cables had been cut in 32 places.

1263.
Date: April 28, 1997
Target: Queen Elizabeth II
Location: London, England
Details: An escaped mental patient was able to sneak onto the grounds of Buckingham Palace, prompting a security review. The incident was at least the sixth palace intrusion in 15 years. The man was quickly arrested.

1264.
Date: May 1, 1997
Target: Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver
Location: Santa Monica, California
Details: Schwarzenegger and his wife were ambushed and trapped in their Mercedes-Benz between two cars driven by paparazzi. Two photographers were arrested on misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment in connection with the incident.

1265.
Date: May 7, 1997
Target: Prime Minister Jean Chretien
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Details: Police detained a man who shook Chretien's hand at an election stop and would not let go. When the man began pulling Chretien toward him and yelling, police pulled them apart.

1266.
Date: May 9, 1997
Target: Prime Minister Jean Chretien
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Details: A crowd of protesters angry over unemployment blocked a bus of reporters traveling in advance of Chretien's bus, and tried to hold the reporters hostage until he met with them. They released the bus after Chretien agreed to a meeting. Chretien's bus turned back, and he later flew in by helicopter to meet with them.

1267.
Date: June 3, 1997
Target: State Legislators
Location: Salem, Oregon
Details: Nearly 150 people hanged effigies of five lawmakers at the Capitol.

1268.
Date: June 10, 1997
Target: Governor George Pataki
Location: Long Island, New York
Details: Two New York tenant's groups protested outside Pataki's $2,500-a-plate fund-raiser at a country club.

1269.
Date: June 18, 1997
Target: U.S. Capitol Building
Location: Washington, D.C.
Details: The environmental group Greenpeace drove a dump truck onto a service road, evaded security officers, and dumped a load of coal and seven oil drums in front of the Capitol.

1270.
Date: June 25, 1997
Target: Governor Paul Patton
Location: Frankfort, Kentucky
Details: Death penalty protesters staged a sit-in at Patton's office, saying they wouldn't leave until he granted clemency for a convicted murderer.

1271.
Date: July 1, 1997
Target: Gubernatorial Candidate Mike Bowers
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Details: Police investigated a break-in at Bowers campaign headquarters. The culprits stole tax records and planted drug paraphernalia.

1272.
Date: July 5, 1997
Target: Chelsea Clinton (daughter of President Clinton)
Location: Florence, Italy
Details: It was reported that Chelsea's bodyguards scuffled with two photographers outside a disco when they tried to snap pictures of her. Photographer Riccardo Gemogli was shoved against a wall and injured slightly. Police broke it up.

1273.
Date: July 11, 1997
Target: Director Steven Spielberg
Location: Malibu, California
Details: Jonathan Norman was arrested after he allegedly backed his Land Rover into the front gates of Spielberg's Malibu estate, and then fled on foot. Norman was reportedly found in a neighbor's yard holding a drapery rod over his head like a javelin. He had lists of Spielberg's family members and associates, and what he called a "rape kit," consisting of duct tape, handcuffs, and a razor knife. He was plotting to handcuff Spielberg and his wife, actress Kate Capshaw, and make her watch him sexually assault Spielberg. Spielberg and his family were in Ireland at the time of the incident. Previously convicted in 1995 of assault with a deadly weapon, Norman reportedly first tried to enter the estate in June 1997, but was turned away by a security guard. He identified himself as Spielberg's adopted son. According to court testimony, Norman also possessed a "shopping list" of S&M items including eye masks, nipple clamps, dog collars, chloroform, and an electric shocker. He was convicted of stalking on March 4, 1998, and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

1274.
Date: September 18, 1997
Target: State Capitol Building
Location: Topeka, Kansas
Details: Members of a common law court were locked out of a Capitol meeting room and troopers removed them from the secretary of state's office.

1275.
Date: September 25, 1997
Target: Retired Astronaut Story Musgrave
Location: Kissimmee, Florida
Details: Margaret Ray was arrested outside Musgrave's home after she beat on his door and turned on all the outdoor faucets. She had been stalking him for four years, calling, writing, and sending packages. Ray became famous after she was arrested seven times for stalking David Letterman and claiming to be his wife. She stated she loved Musgrave and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed to a mental hospital. Ray was released in August 1998 and returned to Colorado. She later killed herself by kneeling in front of an oncoming train.

1276.
Date: October 16, 1997
Target: U.S. Representative Frank Riggs
Location: Eureka, California
Details: Four protesters stormed into Riggs' office wearing hoods, and dumped a tree stump on the floor. When they refused to leave, Humboldt County deputies wiped and sprayed pepper mace into their eyes before removing them. On October 30, nine protesters sued the deputies for excessive force. Videotapes of the incident were released to the media.

1277.
Date: November 8, 1997
Target: President Bill Clinton
Location: Washington, D.C.
Details: An unidentified woman wandered into the White House pressroom and asked where Clinton was. She was detained by the Secret Service and charged with unlawful entry. It is unclear how she gained access.

1278.
Date: November 28, 1997
Target: Supreme Court Justice Sajjad Ali Shah
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan
Details: President Farooq Leghari ordered the army to protect Shah after thousands of protesters stormed the court building forcing him to flee.

1279.
Date: December 26, 1997
Target: President Daniel Moi
Location: Homa Bay, Kenya
Details: As Moi was leaving an election rally where he had spoken to a crowd of 1,000 supporters, a clash broke out with rival party supporters. Six people, including a political candidate and two officers, had been seriously injured. Help was delayed because of a nationwide nurses' strike.

1280.
Date: January 14, 1998
Target: President Bill Clinton
Location: Washington, D.C.
Details: A woman on a public tour of the White House pulled a can of spray paint out of her purse and sprayed brown paint on two historic sculptures. She carried the three-inch paint can through the magnetometer checkpoint, but agents didn't seize it because "a can of spray paint itself is not a security issue and there was nothing to indicate any kind of suspicious behavior." She was stopped by a uniformed Secret Service officer and taken into custody.

1281.
Date: March 17, 1998
Target: British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook
Location: Jerusalem, Israel
Details: During a chaotic visit to a Jewish neighborhood, Israeli protesters pounded pots and pans, chanting, "Robin, go home!" Cook was barely visible under umbrellas as he was rushed into a building.

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