Posted on 08/31/2004 12:59:37 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
NEW YORK - A man was arrested following a struggle with Secret Service agents after entering a restricted area near Vice President Dick Cheney at the Republican convention and making anti-war statements. Cheney never was in any danger, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
The incident occurred at about 9:20 p.m. Monday, as Cheney sat with his wife, Lynne, in a box off the convention floor at Madison Square Garden.
According to law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, the unidentified man was dressed like a convention volunteer and got close enough to Cheney's box to make some anti-war statements. There was a struggle when Secret Service agents went to grab the man, and he had to be subdued, one of the officials said. No weapons were found on him.
Secret Service Agent Shannon Zeigler declined to provide details, saying only that the man was detained for questioning for being in an area for which he was not credentialed. Cheney "was never in any harm or danger," Zeigler said.
Cheney's spokeswoman, Anne Womack, referred questions to the Secret Service.
Authorities were investigating whether the man was an anti-war protester who may have signed up as a volunteer to get into the arena. One of the officials described him as "somebody who has a prior history of doing things like this."
The man was expected to appear in Manhattan federal court Tuesday afternoon. Authorities declined to discuss the charges, but one official said the man would likely be charged with assaulting a federal officer and impeding the operation of the Secret Service.
Thomas Frampton - suspect
Man Held for Coming Within Feet of Cheney
03:46 PM EST - August 31, 2004
NEW YORK
A 21-year-old Yale student, posing as a volunteer at the Republican National Convention, got within 10 feet of Vice President Dick Cheney and shouted anti-war statements before being dragged away, authorities said Tuesday.
Secret Service Agent Shannon Zeigler said Cheney "was never in any harm or danger" during the incident Monday night in Madison Square Garden. The suspect, Thomas Frampton, was charged with assaulting federal officers and impeding the operation of the Secret Service.
Frampton was released on $50,000 bail and told to stay 100 feet from Cheney and President Bush. He also was ordered to give back a red convention volunteer's shirt he used to get into the arena, along with any convention passes.
A complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan said Secret Service agents spotted Frampton carrying a "Bush-Cheney '04" placard on the walkway behind Cheney's box at 9:30 p.m. Monday. One agent instructed him to keep moving.
Frampton began to move away, then turned back in the direction of Cheney's box and began shouting anti-Bush administration slogans. He then started to climb over a low wall separating Cheney's box from the walkway and got within 10 feet of Cheney before the Secret Service agents tried to restrain him.
As the agents grabbed him, Frampton swung his right elbow in the direction of one agent, the court papers said. He continued to struggle with the agents and shout at Cheney as he was dragged away and handcuffed, the complaint said.
Federal prosecutor John M. Hillebrecht said Framption went through elaborate efforts to get close to Cheney, including going through training sessions with convention organizers, "all the while masquerading as a Republican supporter of the president."
Defense attorney Henry E. Mazurek described Frampton as a model citizen and Yale junior with a near-perfect grade-point average. Frampton's father is a partner at a New York law firm and mother is a professional photographer in Washington, Mazurek said. Frampton was scheduled to begin classes on Wednesday, Mazurek said.
Deaniac sleeper, ticking away...
Congratulations, Thomas Frampton!
You win today's prize of a free week's stay at the luxurious Riker's Island Hotel with the roommate of management's choice!
Your name has been entered for the grand prize draw of a grand jury felony indictment. Stay tuned for details!
Until you published the name, I thought it was michael maggot moore-on.
Frampton's father is a partner at a New York law firm
Secret Service let him get within 10 feet of Cheney? And, the RNC let this cretin pass as a volunteer?
Oh, really tough of them to ask for the volunteer t-shirt back.
Worrisome.
Note that this dude's parents are a NY lawyer and a DC photographer.
Oh, you mean THIS Thomas Frampton:
From "Off the Fence"...
http://offthefence.typepad.com/off_the_fence/2004/02/levin_lays_the_.html
LEVIN LAYS THE SMACK DOWN
President Levin is a rather soft-spoken man. With all of the ad hominem attacks that have been directed his way over the years thanks to Yale's unions, Jesse Jackson, guilt-ridden liberal students, GESO etc., it's amazing that he has been able to keep his cool. Yet last Friday, after being heckled by a protestor after giving a press conference in Woodbridge Hall, Levin showed a little public pizzaz:
Immediately following Levin's statement, approximately 20 protesters staged a press event of their own outside the building on Beinecke Plaza, chanting and waving signs to show their disapproval of Levin's selection for the commission.
"What experience could you possibly have on weapons of mass destruction or U.S. intelligence?" Thomas Frampton '06 asked Levin as he left Woodbridge Hall.
"I have something you lack -- an open mind," Levin replied.
I've been the subject of Thomas Frampton's PP '06 (Professional Protester, that is) criticism before, so I am glad to see that President Levin responded so acutely to this remark.
I agree that the responsibility in appointing a commision to investigate the intelligence failures should have rested with Congress, and not the President. And it is true that President Levin is not an intelligence expert. Yet these concerns do not warrant attacks on Levin's ability to serve on the commission. There is value in having non-intelligence experts on such a body; it is true that they come with an open mind and a fresh perspective. Yes, there will be technical questions that Levin will have to examine while poring over these files, but that is why the commission has Ret. Adm. Bill Studeman, a former deputy director of the CIA as a member, in addition to the civil servants who will staff the body and will have the technical expertise necessary. I do not doubt that President Levin will be able to understand whatever evidence is presented to him. These questions are more deliberative and conceptually based than purely technically based - but regardless, Levin's background as a research economist make him more than qualified to tackle the tough, quantitative problems he will no doubt be presented with. As head of one of the most respected academic institutions in the world, President Levin is no slouch. To run a place like Yale University, you have to be an eminently capable and intelligent individual. Yet to the various union lackeys who attacked him on Friday, these facts do not register because it ruins their argument that the President of Yale should not make any more money than a janitor who belongs to Local 35.
Check out Channel 8's video of the encounter.
"As the agents grabbed him, Frampton swung his right elbow in the direction of one agent, the court papers said. He continued to struggle with the agents and shout at Cheney as he was dragged away and handcuffed, the complaint said."
Oh those 'peaceful' demonstrators / much like the 'peace' filled islam religion
Peter has not done much since he released Frampton Comes Alive!
Was he wearing a kilt?
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