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Original Article

Capitol Hill Suitcase Scare

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2005

Strange Capitol Standoff

(CBS/AP) In a bizarre incident outside the U.S. Capitol Monday afternoon, police snuck up on a man dressed in black who seemed unresponsive, except that he repeated a request to see the president.

The man, apparently of Chinese descent, stood in front of the Capitol with two large suitcases, CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports. The odd request and his black clothing triggered alarms, and soon the police had surrounded him with a SWAT team.

The man refused to say anything else to an officer who tried to talk with him, authorities said.

"He was not very responsive," said U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer. "The officer felt it was a possible suicide bomber."

The man was tackled by the SWAT team and charged with disobeying a police officer. A three-hour investigation of the suitcases, including blasting them with a water cannon, revealed nothing threatening, Gainer said.

Stewart reports that the man, who had been carrying two rolling suitcases, was injured by the squad. He was forcibly knocked forward and his face pushed against the cement. See video footage of the SWAT arrest.

His pieces of luggage were X-rayed one at a time, and then opened with explosive devices. What was found? Nothing more than dirty socks and other clothing, a CD player and a watch, among other personal belongings.

Officials refuse to identify the man involved other than to say he was 33 years old, from China and carrying no identification.

The midday incident which occurred at the peak of the cherry blossoms in one of Washington's busiest tourist seasons led police to evacuate the West Lawn.

The Senate side of the building was evacuated, reports CBS News Congressional Correspondent Bob Fuss. People on the House side were told to stay away from windows facing West and a large area around the Capitol also was cleared, including the area where tourists line up for tours.

By late afternoon, normal daytime activity had resumed at the Capitol.

An officer first saw the man standing near a fountain with a suitcase on either side of him, staring silently at the building around 12:40 p.m., Gainer said.

"He only would say at first that he wanted to speak to the president," the chief said.

Four officers crept up one of the walled pathways behind him. The man briefly turned and saw them as they crouched behind a wall. After he turned back to the building, they came over the wall. Two tackled him and dragged him away. A medic tended to what Gainer said were superficial injuries the man suffered when he was knocked down.

"He said that if we wanted to know what was in the suitcase, we would have to open it ourselves," Gainer said.

Some of the most powerful officials in Congress have offices on the west side of the Capitol, among them House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

MMV CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-04-12-suitcase_x.htm

Posted 4/12/2005 6:24 PM

Man arrested at Capitol to be deported

WASHINGTON (AP) The man who was tackled and detained at the Capitol on Monday is an Australian citizen and will be expelled for violating the terms of his visa, a federal immigration official said Tuesday.

U.S. Capitol police officers were concerned Wen Hao Zhao was a possible suicide bomber. House Majority Whip's office

The man, Wen Hao Zhao, is a native of China who entered the U.S. legally Friday through Los Angeles International Airport, according to Dean Boyd, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security's immigration bureau.

U.S. Capitol Police officers knocked him down, detained him and blew open his luggage Monday after he stationed himself on the west plaza of the building, a suitcase on either side of him, and refused to speak or move.

The luggage contained a CD player, police said later.

The man was later transferred to the bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Boyd said. Zhao entered the country on an Australian passport under a waiver program that allows citizens of certain countries entrance without a visa, he said.

"The visa waiver program has a public safety provision," Boyd said. "We are moving to send him back to Australia for violating the conditions of his waiver."