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PENNSYLVANIA FEDERATION OF INJURED WORKERS Call us toll free 1-888-376-7942
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Gun Suspect described as a threat to Ridge
Comments allegedly made by a Clarion County resident cause alarm. He is
jailed pending trial.
The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH--A convicted felon will be held in prison pending a trial
on charges that he possessed guns illegally, after a federal judge determined
he posed a threat to Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and others,
according to court records.
Douglas B. Leuschen of Clarion County was arrested by federal agents
on gun charges in July and was indicted this week by a federal grand jury in
Pittsburgh, authorites said. As a convicted felon, Leuschen is prohibited
from possesssing firearms.
Leuschen, 53, said he had a right to defend himself against
"belligerents", saying he was ready to go to war and that he's recently driven
past Ridge's family home in Erie, according to court records.
During a July detention hearing U.S. Magistrate Ila Jeanne Sensnich
said Leuschen posed a threat to Ridge and others and put him in jail pending
trial.
"He believes the only action now available to him is to take his gun
and go to war against the people who have caused him such injustice for many
years", Sensenich wrote in a a detention order.
"During his interview with federal agents he referred to the Columbine
(school) shooting and to past shootings at U.S. postal facilities. He also
referred to Timothy McVeigh and Osama bin Laden and stated that there was a
reason they took the action they did", Sensenich said in the order.
Authorities said Leuschen has been upset with Ridge since the late
1980's, when he was apparently denied a worker's compensation claim for a 1988
injury. He collects veteran's disability checks and hasn't worked since 1988,
and he blames Ridge for conspiring against him, according to authorities.
I find this article to be very sad. First
off that this person had been denied worker's compensation and has probably
been fighting for his rights all this time and that he has been locked up in a
detention center. It is quite apparent to me that this man does not need to
be in a detention center but needs to be in a mental health hospital since he
is expressing symptoms of severe depression. This is power for the course to
have another agency pick up the tab for a work related injury. This indeed is
a very sad story in my eyes. (Cindy Strouse - PFIW Berks County)
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