Two Individuals Take Direct Action At Whitey House - Lit on Fire and Scaling Fence

Man Sets Fire to Himself Outside White House
Josh Pringle
Monday, November 15, 2004

There were two incidents in front of the White House on Monday.

A man set himself on fire on the sidewalk in front of the executive mansion.

In the footage, you can hear the man repeatedly yelling ''Allah.''

Agents used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

Later, a man scaled the fence at the White House, but didn't get far.

Uniformed Secret Service agents with guns drawn seized the fence-jumper at dusk, shortly after he landed on the north lawn.

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Posted on Mon, Nov. 15, 2004
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Man sets himself on fire in front of the White House

By CHARLES HOMANS

Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - A man set himself on fire Monday afternoon in front of the White House after a failed attempt to deliver a letter to President Bush.

The 52-year-old man, whom law enforcement officials described as being of Middle Eastern descent, was hospitalized with second- and third-degree burns over 30 percent of his body. Law enforcement officials didn't immediately release his name.

U.S. Park Police Lt. Patrick O'Brien said the man, who was carrying a raincoat and an attache case, approached Secret Service officers around 2 p.m. at the northwest gate of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue and told them he wanted to deliver a letter to the president.

After he was turned away, he pulled out a lighter and set fire to his jacket, which appeared to be doused with some sort of flammable substance, O'Brien said.

"He was screaming when he was on fire," according to O'Brien, who said the man was burned on his neck, hands, head and face. Medical personnel described the injuries as not life-threatening.

Initial reports indicated that the man shouted "Allah, Allah" as he was wrestled to the ground, but authorities were unable to corroborate that, even after reviewing a videotape of the incident and interviewing officers at the scene.

They offered no motive for the incident.

After Park Police and Secret Service officers put out the fire and subdued the man, he was taken to Washington Hospital Center for treatment.

Alan Etter, a spokesman for the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services, described the man as conscious but incoherent after the incident.

"I wouldn't say he was alert, but he was conscious," Etter said. "Medics were trying to talk to him, and he pretty much couldn't really respond."

Secret Service and Park Police are investigating the incident, which was the first criminal event since the pedestrian walkway in front of the White House reopened to the public Nov. 9.
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