Man Threatens Bush, Arrested

ByABC News
September 5, 2002, 7:48 AM

— -- Armed Man Allegedly Threatens Bush, Arrested Near White House

W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 4 A New Hampshire man who police said might have made threats toward President Bush was arrested today two miles north of the White House after authorities discoveredmore than a dozen weapons in a rented car he was driving.

"There was an issue that came up early on about an individualthat had made threats that possibly could be toward thepresident," District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Chief CharlesRamsey said.

A U.S. Secret Service source familiar with the investigationsaid the car contained 10 rifles and six handguns. Although riflesare allowed in the city, local laws prohibit possession of handgunswith few exceptions. The source, who asked not to be identified,said the weapons were unregistered.

Jeffrey Cloutier, 33, of Newport, N.H., reportedly rented thewhite 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier from an Enterprise rental car agencynear Philadelphia International Airport this morning.

Cloutier's grandmother told The Associated Press in a telephoneinterview that her grandson had been having problems recently andhas sought help. She said he also sought treatment for epilepsy.

"He needs help and he needs it bad," Marjorie Cloutier said."I think he was trying to get help and he wasn't getting it."

She said she was not aware, however, of any problems her sonmight have had with Washington.

She said Jeffrey Cloutier lived upstairs from her in anapartment with his mother, Virginia. The phone in the mother's homerang unanswered today.

The Secret Service issued an unspecified alert to lawenforcement agencies on the East Coast providing the license numberand a description of the vehicle. The alert raised the possibilitythe vehicle may have contained explosives.

"The initial search did not turn up any explosives," Ramseytold reporters. The car was stopped in a residential neighborhoodof aging apartment buildings.

The investigation is being headed by the Secret Service,although agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco andFirearms were called in to process the vehicle for fingerprints andother evidence. As police surrounded the car, several boxes andbags taken from it were searched in the middle of the intersection.

Cloutier's wife also was taken into custody, but a SecretService source said she was unlikely to face any charges.

Possession of unregistered firearms and unregistered ammunitionare misdemeanors carrying penalties of up to one year in jail underD.C. law. However, Cloutier could face felony charges for any ofthe handguns if they are found to be operable, said a spokesman forthe U.S. Attorney's Office, which handles most criminalprosecutions in the nation's capital.

Cloutier could make an initial court appearance before a U.S.magistrate-judge as early as Thursday, officials said.

The Associated Press

Reporters Smuggle Knives Onto 14 Flights

N E W Y O R K, Sept. 4 In a troubling investigation, reporters for aNew York newspaper were able to smuggle several small knives andpepper spray through security checkpoints to board 14 flights overLabor Day weekend at 11 U.S. airports.

Reporters for the Daily News were able to bring the banned item s utility knives, rubber-handled razor knives, a pocket knife, acorkscrew, razor blades and pepper spray through every airportsecurity checkpoint they attempted to pass, the newspaper said.

The undercover reporters used three credit cards and theInternet to purchase one-way tickets just days before departing,which would typically prompt an airline to search a passenger,according to today's editions of the newspaper.

Guards X-rayed and hand-searched the bags, made reporters takeoff their shoes and checked photo identifications, but did not findthe banned itemseven though they were packed in normal carry-onluggage compartments.

The airports that failed the undercover security test includethe four at which the terrorists boarded flights on Sept. 11:Newark International in New Jersey, Boston's Logan International Airport, Washington's DullesInternational and Portland International Jetport in Maine.

New York's LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports also missedthe potentially dangerous contraband, as did Los Angeles, Chicagoand Las Vegas international airports and the airports in FortLauderdale, Fla., and Santa Barbara, Calif.

Security at the airports included federal and private screenersand local and state police.

"We have a lot of work to do," Leonoardo Alcivar, a spokesmanfor Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, told the Daily News.