Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 7, 1990 TAG: 9006070478
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Quayle, who was getting into his limousine outside a Capitol Hill office building Wednesday, was not hurt and the papers only grazed him, said his press secretary, David Beckwith.
Mwenea Sikuzote, 42, of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, was arrested and charged with assaulting the vice president, a felony that carries the possibility of a $10,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison upon conviction.
"The guy shouted `I have documents' and proceeded to throw same," Beckwith said.
But the papers were not enough to inflict damage. Quayle was driven away by his Secret Service agents.
One of the papers the man threw appeared to be a letter to President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, said one official, but the contents weren't disclosed.
"The vice president is fine," Beckwith said. "He inquired about what the guy's story was. He asked what his problem was but otherwise shrugged off the incident," and returned to his office to prepare for his afternoon schedule.
Assaulting the president or vice president is a federal crime, a felony in the U.S. code.
The man called to Quayle from about 20 feet away as the vice president was getting into the limousine outside the Hart Senate Office Building after a luncheon with senators, Beckwith said.
Quayle looked up and the flying roll of papers glanced off his head after first striking the car, Secret Service spokesman Alan Cramer said.
The Capitol police assist the Secret Service in blocking pedestrian traffic in situations involving the vice president's motorcade near the Capitol, Cramer said.
"This guy kind of broke through the ranks," he said.
by CNB