courthouse updates

[Richard Boyden <richard.boyden@sanbruno.nara.gov>]

From: 	Robert A. Westby <rawestby@archives.sos.state.ga.us>
To:	SANBR.Sanbrp1(rboyden)
Date: 	4/8/97 4:54pm
Subject: 	Update On Fire Bombing
Source:    
http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/970408/news/stories/bomb_2.html

Tuesday April 8 3:46 PM EDT  >  > Judge Injured in Courthouse Bombing
 URBANA, Ill. (Reuter) - A man threw a Molotov cocktail at a judge
presiding over a civil trial at  the Champaign County courthouse Tuesday,
triggering a fire and evacuation that caused a panic but only minor
injuries.   Police said they had caught a suspect, but did not immediately
identify him or offer a potential  motive for the attack.  Judge George
Miller, 69, suffered a gash on his head that he may have hit ducking out
of the way of  the bottle of strong-smelling, amber fluid stuffed with a
lighted rag. Miller was able to walk with help  to an ambulance.  A juror
injured her knee in the stampede that followed the incident and several
people suffered cuts, possibly from flying glass from the smashed bottle,
which did not explode.   

Defense lawyer Rich Harden said he was listening to a witness testify
when he heard someone muttering and turned toward the back of the
third-floor courtroom.  "I saw a man with a hood. He had a bottle with
something sticking out. It had a very powerful smell and it looked like he
had a lighter," Harden said. "I got out of the courtroom by a side door." 
The opposing attorney in the medical malpractice case, Bob Kirchner,
said he pursued the attacker who fled after throwing the bottle at the
judge.  "As soon as he threw it he ran out of the courtroom. I ran after
him," Kirchner said.  Firefighters needed about half an hour to extinguish
the blaze, which poured black smoke off the  roof of the 96-year-old,
three-story courthouse. 

Authorities said it was the first such attack at the courthouse, which
does not have particularly tight security or metal detectors. Last year, an
after-hours bombing of the prosecutor's office at the courthouse in
adjacent Douglas  County prompted increased security there, and the
issue had become a minor controversy at the Champaign County
courthouse in Urbana.   Urbana, along with neighboring Champaign, is
the site of the University of Illinois, about 100 miles  south of Chicago. 
Earlier Related Stories   Man Tosses Bomb in Trial, Judge Injured - Tue
Apr 8 1:16 pm  >
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

From: 	Robert A. Westby <rawestby@archives.sos.state.ga.us>
To:	SANBR.Sanbrp1(rboyden)
Date: 	4/8/97 5:22pm
Subject: 	Fire

Update: from    http://206.128.187.78/wp-srv/digest/nat4.htm

Bomb Thrown in Illinois Courtroom, By Matt Kelley, Associated Press
Writer
Tuesday, April 8, 1997; 4:51 p.m. EDT
URBANA, Ill. (AP) -- A man threw a firebomb at the judge during a
medical malpractice trial today, causing an explosion and fire that sent
participants fleeing and slightly injuring four people.  The man walked into
the courtroom at the Champaign County Courthouse with a bottle filled
with amber liquid, lighted the rag  sticking out of the top, threw it at the
bench and ran, said Abra Bonnell, a juror hearing the case.  ``It was
obvious that he was pretty much aiming it at the judge and trying to hurt
the judge,'' Bonnell said.  ``We all smelled gas, and everyone just left the
jury box screaming,'' she said. She didn't see a burst of fire but did smell
smoke as they fled, she said.  

A man was in custody for several hours but was released after police
determined he was not involved, Sheriff Dave Madigan said.  Four people
including the judge were injured, none by fire, Fire Chief William
Pessemier said. Circuit Judge George Miller suffered minor scalp wounds
and was expected to be treated and  released, said Gretchen Robbins, a
Carle Hospital spokeswoman. Miller apparently was injured while diving
under the bench. The three other people were treated at the scene,
Pessemier said. 

The explosion happened about 11:15 a.m. on the third floor of the 
four-story building in downtown Urbana. Two rooms on the third floor
were severely damaged by fire, and the entire building sustained serious
smoke damage, police and fire personnel said. The fire was extinguished
within 30 minutes after firefighters arrived, Pessemier said. A man in his
20s wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, baseball cap, tan pants and
sneakers with no laces sat on the trunk of an  unmarked police car as
witnesses were asked to identify him.  Madigan said the courthouse had
security guards in the courtrooms during trials but none monitoring the
comings and  goings of people.  ``The door's unlocked, so if you could
open the courtroom door, you could get in,'' he said. ``There's really no
court security.''  The courthouse does not have metal detectors, and
there has been controversy over whether to install them.
                                      ? Copyright 1997 The Associated Press

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