Just two seconds

by Gavin De Becker; Thomas A. Taylor; Jeff Marquart

  1163. Date: October 18, 1971

  Target: Russian Premier Alexi Kosygin

  Location: Ottawa, Canada

  Details: A protestor struck Kosygin near the Canadian Parliament, while he was on an official trip to Canada. He was unhurt.

  1164. Date: February 17, 1974

  Target: President Richard Nixon

  Location: Washington, D.C.

  Details: Robert Preston, a private in the Army, reportedly stole an Army helicopter from Fort Meade, Maryland, and flew it to the White House Complex. He passed over the Executive Mansion and then returned to the south grounds, where he hovered for about six minutes and touched down briefly approximately 150 feet from the West Wing. Members of the EPS did not know who was piloting the aircraft and were not aware that it had been stolen from Fort Meade. They made no attempt to shoot down the helicopter. Preston left the area of the White House and flew the helicopter back toward Fort Meade. He was chased by two Maryland State Police helicopters, one of which he forced down through his erratic maneuvers. Preston then returned to the White House Complex. As he lowered himself to about 30 feet above the south grounds, EPS officers barraged the helicopter with shotgun and submachine gunfire. Preston immediately set the riddled aircraft down. He was injured slightly.

  1165. Date: December 25, 1974

  Target: President Gerald Ford

  Location: Washington, D.C.

  Details: On Christmas Day, a man who claimed he was the Messiah crashed his Chevrolet Impala through the Northwest Gate of the White House Complex and drove up to the North Portico. He had what appeared to be explosives strapped to his body, and he announced to Secret Service personnel that he was prepared to detonate the device. After approximately four hours of negotiation, he surrendered. The "explosives" turned out to be road-flares. (It was in response to this incident and another the previous year that in 1976 the antique gates were replaced with reinforced gates.)

  1166. Date: 1975

  Target: President Gerald Ford

  Location: Washington, DC

  Details: A man scaled the fence surrounding the White House and was able to walk about the grounds without being stopped for about 90 minutes. He even got near the President's daughter, Susan Ford, as she unloaded camera equipment from her car.

  1167. Date: June 1975

  Target: Prime Minister Takeo Miki

  Location: Tokyo, Japan

  Details: At the public funeral for former Prime Minister Eisaku Sato a right-wing extremist slipped through the lines and punched Miki in the face, knocking him down.

  1168. Date: November 1975

  Target: California Governor Ronald Reagan

  Location: Miami, Florida

  Details: A man broke through a crowd at a political rally and pointed a toy gun at Reagan. Secret Service Agents quickly disarmed him. The man had also made threats to kill President Ford and Vice President Rockefeller. (In May 1998, the same man was arrested for making death threats to radio celebrity Howard Stern.)

  1169. Date: July 27, 1976

  Target: President Gerald Ford

  Location: Washington, D.C.

  Details: A man climbed the fence of the White House, carrying a three-foot metal pipe. When ordered by security officers to halt, he raised the pipe in a threatening manner, and was fatally shot.

  1170. Date: December 1, 1976

  Target: President Gerald Ford

  Location: Washington, D.C.

  Details: Steven B. Williams became the first would-be intruder to test the newly strengthened White House gates. He rammed the Northwest Gate with his pickup truck at approximately 25 miles per hour. The gate did not buckle, but the front of Williams' truck was flattened. Since then, a number of other individuals have tried and failed to crash through gates onto the White House grounds. On at least one occasion, a driver attempted to enter the Complex through a gate opened for another vehicle, but he, too, was unsuccessful.

  1171. Date: April 7, 1977

  Target: President Jimmy Carter

  Location: Washington, D.C.

  Details: A man pulled a replica gun during a White House tour and told a White House policeman to take him to Carter. He was taken into custody.

  1172. Date: October 1978

  Target: President Jimmy Carter

  Location: Washington, D.C.

  Details: Anthony Henry wished to persuade President Carter that it was blasphemous to place the words "In God We Trust" on United States currency. Wearing a white karate suit and carrying a Bible, he climbed over the White House fence onto the north grounds. When confronted by Secret Service agents and Uniformed Division officers approximately 15 yards inside the fence line, he pulled a knife from inside the Bible and slashed one officer's face and another's arm. Uniformed Division officers surrounded Henry, prodded him with long batons, and poked the knife out of his hand. They then forced him to the ground and arrested him.

  1173. Date: June 13, 1981

  Target: Queen Elizabeth II

  Location: London, England

  Details: A former Royal Marine officer fired six blanks at the queen from a distance of ten feet as she rode past him on horseback during a parade. A member of the queen's protective detail tackled him.

  1174. Date: July 9, 1982

  Target: Queen Elizabeth II

  Location: London, England

  Details: Michael Fagan slipped over the fence at Buckingham Palace at 6:45 a.m. He was seen climbing on the fence by an off-duty policeman, who called palace police. Two officers went to check but he was gone. Then the alarm in the queen's Stamp Room, which had a reputation for being unreliable, went off once. The duty sergeant in the command post switched it off. It sounded again, and again he switched it off without checking further. Fagan had caused the alarm by climbing in and out of the open window. Fagan found all of the other ground floor windows locked. He climbed a drainpipe in broad daylight to check the next floor's windows. He found one window half-open and entered the palace. He took off his shoes and socks, and walked to the door of the queen's bedroom. He picked up a glass ashtray and smashed it against the wall, keeping a large shard of glass. It was his plan to cut his wrists in front of the queen. The armed officer who patrolled outside the queen's door had gone off duty at 6:00 a.m. Fagan looked inside several rooms until he saw the queen sleeping, then slipped inside her room and closed the door. The queen awoke at 7:18 to the sound of her drapes being pulled open by Fagan. She sat up and asked Fagan what he was doing. Then she noticed his disheveled appearance and saw blood dripping from his thumb, which had been cut when he broke the ashtray. He walked over and sat next to her and began telling her his problems. As the queen kept him talking, she reached down and pressed the emergency night alarm button connected to the command post, but the bell wasn't working. She then managed to press her maid's alarm button next to the bed, but the maid was down the hall and didn't hear it ringing. The queen then asked Fagan if he wanted tea, and he agreed. She called the palace operator and ordered that tea be brought immediately, but this had never happened before and the operator thought it must be a joke. The operator tried to call the maid to pass along the order, but she still didn't answer. The queen called the operator back, ordering that he send tea and "a policeman." The operator called the command post and said the queen wanted them. Not realizing it was an emergency, the duty officer said he would send someone when more officers came in. The queen then asked Fagan if he wanted a cigarette with his tea, and he agreed. She then walked out of the room, meeting her maid in the hallway and telling her there was an intruder. The maid went to call the command post. Fagan then walked into the hall as the queen's footman arrived with the queen's barking dogs for her morning walk. The queen told the footman to get Fagan a cigarette, which he did. Seconds later, police arrived and arrested him. Fagan had been with the queen for nine minutes, and inside the security of the palace grounds for over 40 minutes. Under police questioning, Fagan admitted it was his second time inside the palace. He had been
there a month before on June 7, climbing through an open window and drinking half a bottle of wine before leaving. The massive lapse in security caused people to be disciplined or transferred, and a security review was undertaken.

  1175. Date: May 6, 1984

  Target: Pope John Paul II

  Location: Seoul, South Korea

  Details: A man fired a toy cap pistol at the Pope as his motorcade drove past.

  1176. Date: January 20, 1985

  Target: President Ronald Reagan

  Location: Washington, DC

  Details: On the day that Reagan was sworn in for his second term, Robert Latta gained access to the White House by following the Marine Band through the gate. While carrying an overnight bag, he was able to wander around the Executive Mansion for 15 minutes, until he was discovered in the family dining room and apprehended by Secret Service agents who noticed that he had neither a uniform nor an instrument. After being arrested for unlawful entry, he told reporters "I just wanted to see the ceremony, I'm kind of patriotic." He was admitted for psychiatric evaluation.

  1177. Date: August 21, 1986

  Target: President Ronald Reagan

  Location: Washington, DC

  Details: A homeless woman, was arrested by Secret Service officers as she scaled the northeast fence of the White House with a makeshift ladder. She was charged with unlawful entry.

  1178. Date: November 1, 1987

  Target: President Ronald Reagan

  Location: Washington, DC

  Details: Mike Davis was arrested by uniformed Secret Service officers after he scaled a White House fence and ran to the foot of a stairway that leads to the West Wing. Reagan was in his residential quarters, several hundred feet away, when the incident occurred.

  1179. Date: January 7, 1988

  Target: Singer Olivia Newton-John

  Location: Malibu, California

  Details: At approximately 8:00 a.m., Stephen Stillabower drove his vehicle through the gates of a Malibu residence that had formerly belonged to Newton-John. At the time of this incident, it was the home of singer Madonna and actor Sean Penn. Once inside the compound, Stillabower got out of his truck and ran towards the residence. At the time of the intrusion, Stillabower believed that this was Newton-John's home and that his girlfriend was being held captive there. After observing Sean Penn, Stillabower got back in his truck and departed. He was arrested soon after, by L.A. Sheriff's officers and Sean Penn, who made a citizen's arrest. Family members described Stillabower as a schizophrenic. He had been obsessed with Newton-John for six years. He was ordered to serve 15 days in jail, received 36 months of formal probation, and participated in a mental health program.

  1180. Date: January 21, 1988

  Target: Duchess of York Sara Ferguson

  Location: New York, New York

  Details: A man waving an IRA flag charged toward Ferguson as she arrived at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Two State Department bodyguards tackled the man, while others rushed her inside.

  1181. Date: November 7, 1988

  Target: Vice President George H.W. Bush

  Location: Los Angeles, California

  Details: During a campaign rally, a man pulled out a starter pistol while Bush talked about gun control. When a bystander screamed, he dropped the gun and fled, but was arrested.

  1182. Date: May 1989

  Target: Princess Diana

  Location: Cramlington, England

  Details: Alfred Adcock lunged through a barricade and attempted to grab Princess Diana as she was greeting people. Security agents grabbed him and held him back. Adcock received a caution from police over that incident. He had carried out a number of assaults on women, including two international athletes and two female members of staff at Durham prison. Thousands of people saw Adcock grab Olympic sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner on the track at Gateshead International Athletics Stadium. Race officials quickly intervened and Adcock was ushered off the track. Later, he admitted to indecently assaulting marathon runner Veronique Marot at the start of a race. Adcock entered that race as a runner and grabbed the French runner by the shoulder and put his hand on her breast. Adcock died in April 2004.

  1183. Date: October 25, 1989

  Target: Senator John Glenn

  Location: Washington, D.C.

  Details: During a television interview in front of the Capitol Building, a man stepped up to Senator Glenn and struck him in the face. The man was taken away by Capitol Police, and was muttering about earthquakes and the Pope.

  1184. Date: June 6, 1990

  Target: Vice President Dan Quayle

  Location: Washington, D.C.

  Details: Quayle was getting into his armored limousine when a man threw a sheaf of papers, striking Quayle in the head. The man was arrested for assaulting the vice president.

  1185. Date: July 4, 1990

  Target: Former President Ronald Reagan

  Location: Bel-Air, California

  Details: A man scaled the fence at Reagan's Bel-Air home and entered the residence through the unlocked front door. He encountered Nancy Reagan before Secret Service agents seized him. The former president was in another wing of the house.

  1186. Date: December 7, 1990

  Target: Queen Elizabeth II

  Location: London, England

  Details: A man was arrested after he climbed over the wall of Buckingham Palace in an attempt to reach the queen. He was carrying a large rock.

  1187. Date: October 5, 1991

  Target: Governor Lowell Weicker

  Location: Hartford, Connecticut

  Details: Weicker was jostled and spat on when he waded into a crowd of 40,000 protesters. Bodyguards hustled him into the Capitol Building, and evacuated him through a tunnel.

  1188. Date: October 28, 1991

  Target: President Vaclav Havel

  Location: Prague, Czechoslovakia

  Details: Demonstrators booed Havel off stage during a televised rally. His bodyguards rushed him away to his motorcade.

  1189. Date: March 13, 1992

  Target: President F. W. de Klerk

  Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

  Details: De Klerk was hit in the head with a poster and jostled by hundreds of protesters as he campaigned at a university. He was not injured.

  1190. Date: March 23, 1992

  Target: Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

  Location: Marple Bridge, England

  Details: Thatcher was campaigning when a woman offered her flowers. The woman then began striking Thatcher with the flowers as she reached for them. Bodyguards grabbed and arrested the woman.

  1191. Date: April 13, 1992

  Target: Former President Ronald Reagan

  Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

  Details: Reagan was speaking at a convention when a man charged onto the stage, smashed the award that Reagan had received, and tried to take over the microphone. Secret Service agents tackled and dragged him away. Reagan was struck by broken glass, but unhurt. The man was an antinuclear protester.

  1192. Date: May 6, 1992

  Target: Former President Mikhail Gorbachev

  Location: Fulton, Missouri

  Details: A man from New York plotted for two weeks to get a picture of himself with Gorbachev. He traveled to Missouri, obtained a press pass for Gorbachev's visit there, and was waiting in the crowd at the arrival point. As Gorbachev's motorcade arrived, the man darted through his bodyguards, put his arm around Gorbachev, and snapped a picture of himself. Bodyguards tackled the man and seized his credential.

  1193. Date: June 11, 1992

  Target: President George H.W. Bush

  Location: Panama City, Panama

  Details: Bush was attending an outdoor rally when protesters rushed the plaza. Police fired tear gas at them, which drifted onto the stage. Secret Service agents draped a bullet-resistant raincoat over Bush and evacuated him to his limousine. Agents rode on the running boards of the limousine with their pistols drawn and shie
lding the windows, as the limousine escaped.

  1194. Date: July 20, 1992

  Target: President Bill Clinton

  Location: Columbus, Ohio

  Details: Clinton was shaking hands at a political rally when a man reached into his pants to pull out his shirttail. Thinking he might be reaching for a weapon, Secret Service agents quickly hustled Clinton away. His shirt read, "Abortion Kills."

  1195. Date: October 2, 1992

  Target: Governor Robert Casey

  Location: New York, New York

  Details: Casey tried twice to deliver an antiabortion speech, but gay protesters surged toward the stage and drowned him out. He left without speaking.

  1196. Date: October 3, 1992

  Target: Chancellor Helmut Kohl

  Location: Schwerin, Germany

  Details: Kohl was booed, taunted, and punched by right-wing demonstrators at a celebration for German unity. One man was detained, and then released.

  1197. Date: October 27, 1992

  Target: Vice President Al Gore

  Location: Fort Collins, Colorado

  Details: On the day of Gore's visit to the Rocky Mountain High School, a maintenance man found a smoke bomb under the bleachers and alerted the Secret Service. The event was canceled.

  1198. Date: February 7, 1993

  Target: Mormon Leader Howard Hunter

  Location: Provo, Utah

  Details: A man rushed on-stage during Hunter's speech and held a fake bomb to Hunter's head. Several students overpowered him.

  1199. Date: July 6, 1993

  Target: Queen Elizabeth II

  Location: London, England

  Details: Fourteen antinuclear protesters scaled ladders over the walls of Buckingham Palace and were arrested by police on the grounds.

  1200. Date: September 19, 1993

  Target: TV Celebrity Kathie Lee Gifford

  Location: Lynchburg, Virginia

  Details: A man was arrested after raping his aunt. He told her he wanted to kidnap Gifford "for money," and left with the aunt a scrapbook with pictures of Gifford.