<nettime> Madness and Terrorism

[Are Flagan <areflagan@mac.com>]

As an epitaph to Kermit Snelson's forwarding and commentary on Jimmy
Carter's hopeful polemic in the Washington Post, this story from yesterday
was quickly dismissed as another almost-incident in the tradition of,
supposedly, mad and socially isolated Americans assassinating their leaders.
(Spot the brilliant contradictions below and savor the priceless final
remarks.) I caught a glimpse of this guy on the local news and he was white,
suitably pot-bellied from too many Buds in front of Monday Night Football
and, with 16 guns, no doubt a pillar of the GOP-friendly National Rifle
Association. He wore the same outfit as Bruce Springsteen on the cover of
that "Born in the USA" album. Replace this demographic with one of Arab
heritage and add "proof" that he has a relative whose associate at work once
passed someone on the street who, allegedly, made a phone call to Iraq in
1994 and you probably have...bombs away. Time to pick "Madness and
Civilization" off the shelf again.

-af

------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/248/nation/Man_headed_to_White_House_had_1
6_guns_police_say+.shtml

Man headed to White House had 16 guns, police say

By Douglas Belkin, Globe Staff, 9/5/2002

33-year-old New Hampshire man who collected firearms was arrested 2 miles
from the White House yesterday with 16 guns in the car after a friend
informed police he thought the man intended to assassinate President Bush,
police said. 

Jeffrey Cloutier, of Newport N.H., left his home on Sunday with his
girlfriend, Newport Police Chief David Hoyt said last night. Cloutier began
calling the friend - whom law enforcement officials would not name - from
New Jersey, saying he was lost and needed directions to Washington.

The friend had heard Cloutier make threats against Bush and on Tuesday night
alerted Newport police, police said.

Hoyt said: "He told his friend he was going to run the country the way it
was supposed to be run. As he put it, he was going to take over."

Newport police informed federal law enforcement officials, who put out an
all-points bulletin for Cloutier, Hoyt said.

At some point during his trip, Cloutier's car broke down, and he took a taxi
to Philadelphia, Hoyt said. While carrying at least some of his weapons, he
told the driver he was headed to Washington and allegedly made threats
against the president. The driver called police.

In Philadelphia, Cloutier rented a Chevrolet Cavalier. Police picked up him
and his girlfriend in Washington about 12:30 p.m. yesterday in the Adams
Morgan section, according to District of Columbia Police Chief Charles
Ramsey.

A spokeswoman for the police department said Cloutier was being held on
charges of carrying a pistol without a license and carrying an unregistered
firearm and unregistered ammunition.

Cloutier had been arrested in 1996 on a charge of simple assault and was
known to police as someone who becomes irrational when not taking his
medication, Hoyt said.

Marjorie Cloutier, the suspect's grandmother, said he collected guns but had
permits. She said Cloutier had not worked since he had an operation on his
head at age 18.

As far as she knew, Cloutier had never left New Hampshire, nor was he
political, she said.

"I don't even think he knows who the president is," she said.

She said Jeffrey Cloutier lived upstairs from her in an apartment with his
mother, Virginia, who had been worried about him lately. "She said something
was wrong," the Marjorie Cloutier said. "She didn't know what. That's all
she knew." 

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