Francisco Martin Duran

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Colorado DOC Photo of Duran
Colorado DOC Photo of Duran

Francisco Martin Duran (born September 8, 1968 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is most known for his actions of 29 October 1994 when he fired 29 rounds from a rifle at the White House. He was later convicted of attempting to assassinate President Bill Clinton and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

[edit] Events of the Day

On October 29, dressed in a trench coat, Duran went up to the fence overlooking the north lawn of the White House and fired an SKS semi-automatic rifle [2] at a group of men in dark business suits on the White House lawn. Two nearby boys claimed they had remarked aloud just before the shooting that one of the men looked like Clinton. Secret Service agents immediately began running across the lawn, guns drawn, when citizens, Harry Racowski (first), Ken Davis (second), and Robert Haines (third) tackled him and pinned his arms until he could be subdued. Clinton was reportedly in the family residence watching a football game at the time of the shooting and was unharmed. The incident followed just six weeks after Frank Eugene Corder crashed a Cessna into the White House south lawn and prompted debate about closing off traffic on that area of Pennsylvania Avenue. No one was harmed in the assassination attempt.

[edit] Trial

The most important charges in the two-week trial were attempted murder of the President and four counts of assaulting a federal officer (the Secret Service agents). Duran had served prison time previously, convicted of aggravated assault with a vehicle in the Army, and therefore, beyond the attempted murder of the President he was also charged with illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The other charges were use of an assault weapon during a crime of violence, destruction of U.S. property and interstate transportation of a firearm with intent to commit a felony.

Duran pleaded not guilty and mounted an insanity defense, claiming that he was trying to save the world by destroying an alien "mist", connected by an umbilical cord to an alien in the Colorado mountains[citation needed]. He also claimed to be incited by conservative talk show host Chuck Baker, who spoke on air about "armed revolution" and "cleansing" of the government. [1]

Duran was probably motivated at least in part by the assault weapons ban of 1994. In August 1994, Duran had called a local congressional office to oppose the ban and threatened to "go to Washington and take someone out." He also bought the SKS on Sep. 13, 1994, the same day Clinton signed the bill into law[citation needed].

In April of 2004, Duran placed an ad on WriteAPrisoner.com seeking penpals.

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] AM Armies