Planned for 3 Weeks : Man Who Fumbled Gun at Bush Rally Is Charged

A 40-year-old man arrested after dropping a starter’s pistol at a Woodland Hills rally for Vice President George Bush told Secret Service agents he planned the incident 3 weeks earlier, an assistant U.S. attorney said Monday.

John Arthur Junot, charged Monday in U.S. District Court with disrupting government business in an area under the protection of the Secret Service, was ordered held without bail at Terminal Island in San Pedro, pending a hearing on Thursday, Assistant U.S. Atty. Alice Hill said. It will be determined at the hearing whether Junot will remain in federal custody pending resolution of the misdemeanor charge, she said.

“The government has moved for detention on the grounds that he is a dire threat to the community” and poses a serious flight risk, Hill said. If convicted, Junot could be sentenced to 6 months in jail and a $100,000 fine, she said.

Arrested Sunday

Junot was arrested about 1 p.m. Sunday at Warner Rich Park after a starter’s pistol fell out of his waistband during a speech by Bush, Hill said. A starter’s pistol, commonly used at sporting events, only fires blanks.

After his arrest, Junot told Secret Service agents he knew he would not be hurt because the Secret Service did not shoot John Hinckley, who made an attempt on President Reagan’s life, Hill said. Junot also noted to the agents that neither the two women who tried to kill President Gerald Ford, Sarah Jane Moore and Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme, nor Arthur Bremer--who attempted to kill Alabama Gov. George Wallace--were harmed by authorities, Hill said.

“He said he planned to do this 3 weeks ago when he bought the starter’s pistol from a Big 5 Sporting Goods store,” Hill said of Junot, adding that he also assumed that Los Angeles police officers “would not shoot into a crowd.”

But authorities are uncertain what Junot might have done had he not accidentally dropped the starter’s pistol, Hill said.

A witness told authorities that he saw Junot standing 50 to 75 yards from the stage about 5 minutes before Bush was scheduled to speak, Hill said. A short time after Bush began to speak, the witness said, Junot began fumbling with a poster and the pistol fell to the ground, Hill said. No shots were fired during the incident.

Junot was captured by Los Angeles police a short distance from where he dropped the pistol, Hill said. He was taken to the West Valley station but was later taken into federal custody.