Posted on 06/21/2005 9:19:50 PM PDT by Fido969
By Curt Woodward ASSOCIATED PRESS
8:22 p.m. June 21, 2005
SEATTLE – A man killed by police after he brandished a grenade in the federal courthouse here had grown increasingly upset and unstable recently as years of frustration with the child custody system mounted, friends said Tuesday. Perry L. Manley, 52, was shot to death by police Monday in the courthouse's public lobby. Authorities said Manley had tried to bypass courthouse security while clutching a hand grenade, later found to be inactive.
Police and federal agents evacuated the downtown building and cordoned off the surrounding streets during the standoff with Manley, which lasted for about a half-hour.
He was shot after making a "furtive move" with the grenade, U.S. Marshal Eric Robertson said. Authorities said Manley was dressed in camouflage, and carried court papers and a living will.
Manley was a critic of the child support system and the courts' handling of parental custody issues, and had filed several lawsuits disputing his support obligations. Court documents said Manley was the divorced father of three children, ages 26, 23 and 22.
He was well-known around the courthouse and led a small protest outside the building last month, when he attempted to burn an American flag. But there were no indications his frustrations would become violent, Robertson said.
Manley was ordered in July 2002 to appear in King County Superior Court for failing to pay more than $8,200 in child support. It was unclear from the court filings if Manley paid that bill.
Kevin Turner of Bellevue met Manley a few years ago through a child support reform group and said Manley had become increasingly withdrawn in recent months.
"It got to the point where I didn't know how to talk to him," Turner said. "A year ago, you could talk to him. But the last few months, he wasn't really as 'together' as you would hope."
Manley had been homeless for a time, but had begun to turn his life around in the past few years, getting a job at a restaurant, Turner said. But even those improvements did not cure his ill feelings toward the custody and child support systems.
After repeated failed attempts to bring a federal lawsuit claiming former employers did not have a right to garnish his wages, Manley filed a rambling document in late May that quoted from the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.
Susan Calhoun, Manley's former wife, told KING-TV he became embittered and quit a high-paying job after their divorce in 1990 when a judge ordered him to make support payments for their three children. She did not return a call for comment Tuesday.
Joe McGill of Battle Ground, who knew Manley through a child custody group called The Other Parent, agreed that Manley's statements had become "pretty bizarre." But McGill said he didn't think Manley intended to be killed by police Monday.
"I think it might have been his last step to be heard," McGill said.
If he'd kept it in his pants, he might still be wearing them.
I think he made his point. The "ultimate sacrifice" as it were.
I take it that you never took it out of your pants, then?
So why was he still paying child support? His problem wasn't the family courts, but having the world's worst lawyer.
I take it that you never took it out of your pants, then?
Incorrectomundo.
Personally, I think there are better ways. Right now I'm working towards making "support" payments taxable income for the payee and tax-deductable for the payer (or, even better, come out of pre-tax dollars).
My experience & observation is that the whole thing is anti-father BIG TIME.
Fonzie, is that you?
In some countries they used to be - until the government figured out that they were losing tax revenue because the payer is usually in a higher tax bracket. So they stopped making them deductible.
Anyway, so much for the "for the children" thing.
I hope you're right but "his suicide by cop" was in vain. Washington State won'r be changing it's suppoet enforcement regs any time soon.
suppoet = support. rats!
You're acting as though you think this guy should be recognized as a hero instead of a suicidal nutbar.
Incorrectomundo.Fonzie, is that you?
Fonzie? It's Mr. Fonzarelli to you, karate boy.
Inert Grenade bought at any surplus store
Suicide by Cop
That is one way to cure frustration.
You're right. In California, a man who is named as "father" on a birth certificate has to pay child support whether he's the father of the child or not. A Los Angeles D.A. actually bragged and smiled about this in a news conference a few years back. He was defeated in the next election.
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