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N.C. Truck Driver Continues Standoff on Mall
By Christina Pino-Marina
Washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 18, 2003; 9:14 AM
The North Carolina tobacco farmer who drove a tractor into a pond on the Mall maintained his standoff with law enforcement officials overnight and through this morning, creating traffic problems and prompting the federal government to close several buildings due to concerns about public safety.
Mike Orenstein with the Office of Personnel Management says the federal government's decision to close the buildings was made by the U.S. Park Police earlier this morning. Authorities have expressed concerns that the man in the tractor may have explosives.
The National Academy of Sciences, The Federal Reserve Board, and the South Annex of the Department of the Interior are closed until further notice, according to Orenstein. The State Department, the main building of the Department of the Interior, and the Office of Personnel Management are open only to pedestrian traffic, he said.
Federal Reserve Board spokeswoman Michelle Smith said special arrangements are being made for essential personnel and they’re still being asked to report to work. She says all other employees have been granted administrative leave.
Smith also said the Federal Open Market Committee will occur this morning as scheduled.
The Washington Post reported earlier that the man in the tractor, identified by law enforcement sources as Dwight W. Watson, 50, of Whitakers, N.C., drove into the pond in Constitution Gardens, between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, about noon yesterday. Law enforcement officers are continuing to keep watch on the man, whom they have described as distraught. Although they had made contact with him by cell phone, it remained unclear why he was there and what he wanted.
"We still have dialogue going on right now," said U.S. Park Police spokesman Scott Fear. "We're trying to keep a safe perimeter and we're trying to maintain the safety of pedestrians and our officers."
Fear said this morning he could not confirm if the man had explosives.
Fear also reported traffic congestion throughout the city. The police perimeter in the area has closed several main roads, and commuters trying to enter the city are finding bridges jammed. Constitution Avenue is closed from 23rd to 15th streets, NW. Fear said E Street is open, but everything south of it between 17th and 23rd Streets, NW is shut down. And 17th Street from E Street to Independence Avenue is also closed to traffic.
Fear told The Post in an earlier interview that the man arrived at the area in a jeep yesterday, just south of Constitution Avenue. Towing a tractor behind the jeep on a flatbed trailer, the man jumped the curb and drove the jeep into the nearby pond. Then, Fear said, he mounted the tractor and drove it off the trailer bed and into the shallow water.
According to The Post, the man wore a T-shirt, bearing a variety of badges or patches, and a helmet with what appeared to be a red cross emblem. Painted on the green John Deere tractor were the messages "Salute to Veterans" and "God Bless the Troops." An American flag flown upside down in the traditional signal of distress flew from the vehicle. Another flag depicted tobacco leaves.
Acquaintances said the man had once served in the military, but it was unclear whether yesterday's actions were linked to his service, the possible war with Iraq or concerns about U.S. tobacco policies, the Post reported.
About 100 law enforcement officers -- from agencies including the U.S. Park Police, the D.C. police and the FBI - worked to clear the immediate area and began efforts to talk to the man. Fear said those efforts lasted through the night.
In the dark, the man occaionally flashed white lights on the tractor. Around 5 a.m., a female police negotiator yelled through a bullhorn, asking him to communicate more clearly. Armed members of a police SWAT team positioned themselves on an armored personnel carrier parked on the south side of Constitution Avenue west of 18th Street, NW.
By dawn, few pedestrians were visible in the area surrounding the standoff, but a few joggers and bikers passed by the scene, seemingly unaffected by the activity.
Washington Post reporter David A. Fahrenthold contributed to this report
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44600-2003Mar18.html
By Christina Pino-Marina
Washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 18, 2003; 9:14 AM
The North Carolina tobacco farmer who drove a tractor into a pond on the Mall maintained his standoff with law enforcement officials overnight and through this morning, creating traffic problems and prompting the federal government to close several buildings due to concerns about public safety.
Mike Orenstein with the Office of Personnel Management says the federal government's decision to close the buildings was made by the U.S. Park Police earlier this morning. Authorities have expressed concerns that the man in the tractor may have explosives.
The National Academy of Sciences, The Federal Reserve Board, and the South Annex of the Department of the Interior are closed until further notice, according to Orenstein. The State Department, the main building of the Department of the Interior, and the Office of Personnel Management are open only to pedestrian traffic, he said.
Federal Reserve Board spokeswoman Michelle Smith said special arrangements are being made for essential personnel and they’re still being asked to report to work. She says all other employees have been granted administrative leave.
Smith also said the Federal Open Market Committee will occur this morning as scheduled.
The Washington Post reported earlier that the man in the tractor, identified by law enforcement sources as Dwight W. Watson, 50, of Whitakers, N.C., drove into the pond in Constitution Gardens, between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, about noon yesterday. Law enforcement officers are continuing to keep watch on the man, whom they have described as distraught. Although they had made contact with him by cell phone, it remained unclear why he was there and what he wanted.
"We still have dialogue going on right now," said U.S. Park Police spokesman Scott Fear. "We're trying to keep a safe perimeter and we're trying to maintain the safety of pedestrians and our officers."
Fear said this morning he could not confirm if the man had explosives.
Fear also reported traffic congestion throughout the city. The police perimeter in the area has closed several main roads, and commuters trying to enter the city are finding bridges jammed. Constitution Avenue is closed from 23rd to 15th streets, NW. Fear said E Street is open, but everything south of it between 17th and 23rd Streets, NW is shut down. And 17th Street from E Street to Independence Avenue is also closed to traffic.
Fear told The Post in an earlier interview that the man arrived at the area in a jeep yesterday, just south of Constitution Avenue. Towing a tractor behind the jeep on a flatbed trailer, the man jumped the curb and drove the jeep into the nearby pond. Then, Fear said, he mounted the tractor and drove it off the trailer bed and into the shallow water.
According to The Post, the man wore a T-shirt, bearing a variety of badges or patches, and a helmet with what appeared to be a red cross emblem. Painted on the green John Deere tractor were the messages "Salute to Veterans" and "God Bless the Troops." An American flag flown upside down in the traditional signal of distress flew from the vehicle. Another flag depicted tobacco leaves.
Acquaintances said the man had once served in the military, but it was unclear whether yesterday's actions were linked to his service, the possible war with Iraq or concerns about U.S. tobacco policies, the Post reported.
About 100 law enforcement officers -- from agencies including the U.S. Park Police, the D.C. police and the FBI - worked to clear the immediate area and began efforts to talk to the man. Fear said those efforts lasted through the night.
In the dark, the man occaionally flashed white lights on the tractor. Around 5 a.m., a female police negotiator yelled through a bullhorn, asking him to communicate more clearly. Armed members of a police SWAT team positioned themselves on an armored personnel carrier parked on the south side of Constitution Avenue west of 18th Street, NW.
By dawn, few pedestrians were visible in the area surrounding the standoff, but a few joggers and bikers passed by the scene, seemingly unaffected by the activity.
Washington Post reporter David A. Fahrenthold contributed to this report
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44600-2003Mar18.html
