Howard Stern Caller Threatens Lieberman
N E W Y O R K, Aug. 15, 2000 -- A 23-year-old New York man was placed under house arrest today on charges that he made a death threat to Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Democratic vice-presidential choice, during the Howard Stern radio talk show.
Lawrence Christian Franco, who works in the paper distribution department at Newsday in Long Island, was arrested late Monday night by the Secret Service at his Farmingdale home.
He was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court this afternoon. A federal magistrate judge placed him under house arrest, ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and undergo a psychiatric examination. The magistrate alsobarred Franco from using the phone without the permission ofhis father, with whom he lives.
If convicted of threatening to kill or inflict harm upon a major candidate for the office of vice president, Franco faces up to three years in prison.
According to court papers, Franco had called the Howard Stern show at about 6:25 a.m. Monday and identified himself as “Nazarene.”
Repeated Threats
After an assistant screened Franco’s call, he was allowed to go on the air and allegedly threatened to kill or harm Lieberman. Court papers said that Franco allegedly said that he “hates that Jesus crap. So that Lieberman guy has gonna go. He is gonna take my bullet. He’s going to take it.”
When Stern asked Franco whether he was threatening Lieberman, Franco replied that he was “not threatening, I’m telling you right now. … You got the killer on the air. … And that is me right here.”
Stern told Franco that when callers make inflammatory statements that appear to be threats, law enforcement authorities take the comments seriously. Stern then told Franco that if he was joking, he should say so.
Instead of apologizing, Franco then allegedly made additional threats against Lieberman and law enforcement in general.
“I hate church. I hate churchgoers. I hate them all,” heallegedly said.
When Stern warned him that the FBI might come to his door, Franco allegedly responded “I’ll kill them, I’ll kill them all.” He allegedly repeatedly said he was not joking and would have “guns out the window” if the FBI came to his home.
Secret Service Traced Call
The Secret Service traced the call, which lasted about five minutes, and determined that it came from Franco’s home. Court papers said the occupants of the home allowed them to search Franco’s room where they found a pellet gun.
When Secret Service agents located Franco, he allegedly admitted making the call and said he had chosen Lieberman as a target because the Connecticut senator had been popular topic on the Howard Stern Show.
Lieberman, who was named by Al Gore last week as his vice-presidential running mate, is an Orthodox Jew. He came to national prominence in September 1998 when he was the first Democratic senator to denounce President Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky as morally wrong. However, Lieberman voted against impeachment.
He has also been an outspoken critic of the entertainment industry for years and today he lashed out at Hollywood for promoting sex and violence on screen.