Posted on 11/01/2003 9:58:23 AM PST by blam
Car Rams Miss. Arena Where Bush Speaking
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SOUTHAVEN, Miss. - A car penetrated the security perimeter around the arena where President Bush was speaking Saturday and rammed the building. Authorities swarmed the car with weapons drawn and took away the driver, a woman, and three children who were with her.
Bush was not hurt, and no shots were fired from or at the car, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. Bush left the arena shortly afterward from an exit about 40 yards from the car. The president was in his limousine at the time of the incident, a senior Bush administration said.
"There was a vehicle that did crash into the side of the building," Duffy said, although it was "not close" to the president's car.
"The president was never in any danger and is keeping with his schedule," Duffy later told reporters aboard Air Force One as Bush flew to Paducah, Ky.
He declined to say whether Bush saw what happened or say what the president's reaction was.
The woman was not immediately identified. A witness, Linda Neeley, 40, a teacher from Horn Lake, Miss., said the children, all boys, were about 10 years old.
She and other witnesses said the woman drove a gray Toyota Camry through a parking lot on same side of the DeSoto Civic Center as the president's exit. The car jumped the curb, drove through a gate where press buses had just left and into the side of the building near a loading dock.
Police rushed the car immediately and dragged out the woman and children. She was handcuffed and all three were taken away. Local law enforcement officials detained the suspect, Duffy said.
The president's motorcade was still parked at the center, where Bush had given the first of four campaign speeches scheduled for Saturday.
Fewer than five minutes after the incident, Bush's motorcade left for his next stop, in Paducah.
Bush's day planner in the South included appearances in Desoto County and Gulfport, two GOP strongholds on either end of Mississippi, to lend support to former Republican National Committee (news - web sites) Chairman Haley Barbour, who is trying to unseat Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.
"I'm proud to stand with this man," Bush said.
"He's proud of this state, and that's the kind of governor you need — somebody who relates to people from all walks of life," said Bush, who was greeted by supporters who chanted "Four more years! Four more years!"
Thousands of people jammed to the rafters the sports arena where the rally was held. Along the front rows, audience members screamed their support for Bush and Barbour through plexiglass boards left over from a hockey game.
Barbour walked to the edge of the stage and said Bush was in Mississippi to pay off an IOU, reminding the crowd — and Bush — that he had supported Bush's gubernatorial campaigns and his presidential run in 2000.
Bush's Texas twang got thicker as he addressed the Mississippi crowd.
"He's reaching out," he said, talking about Barbour. "He understands his job is to represent everybody when he gets to be the governor in three days."
The president is fond of saying, "The political season will come in its own time." Saturday seemed to usher it in officially: Bush's day of campaigning, door-to-door, was be 13 1/2 hours.
In Kentucky, the president was to visit Paducah and London to lend support to Rep. Ernie Fletcher, considered the Republicans' best chance in years to capture governor's office it hasn't won since 1967.
Victory for both candidates on Tuesday would raise the number of Republican governors to 29, including California Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites), to the Democrats' 21.
Musgrove countered Bush's visit by promoting his candidacy in the Democrats' weekly radio address Saturday.
"Our leaders need to vigorously go about the business of uplifting our economy, creating jobs, improving education for our children, making prescription drugs more affordable and fighting for our troops," the Mississippi governor said.
"And they need to fight for these things as hard as they fight on the campaign trail."
___
Associated Press Writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.
Bush's Texas twang got thicker as he addressed the Mississippi crowd.
GOOD. Let him remind everyone he's Texan.
"Damn that crazy woman; a democrat no doubt."
No doubt.
I saw one of the kids...looked to be a cute little thing.
Obviously something is really wrong with that woman.
LOL! Well, you still write "Southern style" --- and your accurate observation applies to most regional accents, except for the New England yankees who never seem to lose or to temper their gawd awful dialect: bananner, cah, etc.
I'm born and raised in CA, but I am almost always mistaken for a Southerner... "fixin to do, supper, ya-all" etc. Must have read too much Faulkner growin-up.
"As a "local Freeper" in this area, I will let you guys know if I hear anything else about what happened."
Thank you so much for keeping us informed. I know that I look forward to any added information you may come across.
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