- TungumálAfrikaans Argentina AzÉrbaycanca
á¥áá áá£áá Äesky Ãslenska
áá¶áá¶ááááá à¤à¥à¤à¤à¤£à¥ বাà¦à¦²à¦¾
தமிழ௠à²à²¨à³à²¨à²¡ ภาษาà¹à¸à¸¢
ä¸æ (ç¹é«) ä¸æ (é¦æ¸¯) Bahasa Indonesia
Brasil Brezhoneg CatalÃ
ç®ä½ä¸æ Dansk Deutsch
Dhivehi English English
English Español Esperanto
Estonian Finnish Français
Français Gaeilge Galego
Hrvatski Italiano Îλληνικά
íêµì´ LatvieÅ¡u Lëtzebuergesch
Lietuviu Magyar Malay
Nederlands Norwegian nynorsk Norwegian
Polski Português RomânÄ
Slovenšcina Slovensky Srpski
Svenska Türkçe Tiếng Viá»t
Ù¾Ø§Ø±Ø³Û æ¥æ¬èª ÐÑлгаÑÑки
ÐакедонÑки Ðонгол Ð ÑÑÑкий
СÑпÑки УкÑаÑнÑÑка ×¢×ר×ת
اÙعربÙØ© اÙعربÙØ©
Heim / Albúm / Lansing, fall 1995 46
ADAPT (970)
The Detroit News AND Free Press Metro .. Sunday, October 29, 1995 [Headline] Engler staff lapse led to security breach of governor's home GEORGE WEEKS Gov. John Engler and First Lady Michelle Engler are rightly outraged at misguided demonstrators who pounded on doors and windows of their home while they were gone and their triplet daughters were in the kitchen with their nanny. The Englers are also understandably concerned about the rare and baffling security lapse that allowed wheelchair-bound demonstrators to scoot through an open gate on a driveway leading to the official governor's residence in the fashionable Moors River Drive section of Lansing. Make no mistake, an elite state police detail provides excellent around-the-clock security for the first family. When Engler travels, it is with well-trained plain-clothes troopers who know what to do and do it well. They are hard to spot, but they are there, and well armed. There is 24-hour security at the residence, assisted by a variety of electronic devices connected to monitors that guard outposts. An intruder would be foolhardy to try to scale walls or rush the residence day or night. Yet, in broad daylight on Tuesday, about 70 demonstrators, many in wheelchairs, were able to get to the front porch of the residence after the gate opened for a delivery. There should have been sufficient warning. The Denver-based ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today) declared in advance by press releases that they were coming to Lansing to protest planned GOP changes in the federal Medicaid program. There were about 200 demonstrators, most from outside Michigan. They had 150 rooms at the Radisson Hotel, two blocks from the Capitol. On Monday, they seized the GOP state headquarters for several hours, taking over the switchboard and blocking some staffers in their offices. They demanded to see Engler, who ironically supports their call for more funds for more care. They said they targeted Engler because "He's a high profile potential v-p"; he has the ear of House Speaker Newt Gingrich; and he frequently lobbies Congress on welfare and health care issues. Engler declined to meet with them, but Communications Director John Truscott did meet with them and outlined Engler's position in writing. Law enforcement authorities knew that ADAPT planned to demonstrate Wednesday at the Capitol where Michigan Militia demonstrators planned on Tuesday to protest against the UN. Extra security personnel were at the Capitol on Tuesday. Truscott said, "We had no idea they would hit the residence." But on Tuesday, although they did not announce it in advance, the handicapped demonstrators assembled at a park near the residence. They carefully watched the comings and goings at the residence before they made their move. Apparently they were not watched with sufficient care. Once they began going through the gate, security personnel were reluctant to swing the gate shut for fear of injuring some of them. The massive swinging gate, with black iron bars, takes about 10 seconds to close. Truscott said "It was a slow gate and they had very fast chairs. They came flying." Although 11-month-old Margaret, Hannah, and Madelene did not hear the protesters, Truscott said they were "so rattled" by all the security and other activity within the residence that they had a sleepless night. All of Michigan should feel violated because protesters, no matter how just their cause or how difficult their lives, were able to storm right up to Michigan's front porch. The way to agitate for funds for home care is not to attack someone else's home. It remains to be seen if they awakened interest in home care or caused a backlash. But by breaching the security ring around the governor's residence they delivered a wake-up call. Truscott said "Clearly, we'll take a very serious look" at security arrangements. For starters, there will be a gate that closes faster. Furthermore, when the gate is open, there will be more security personnel to thwart a rush on the residence.