Armed Man Nabbed At Capitol

A man holding tickets to President Clinton's impeachment trial was arrested last week when he tried to enter the Capitol with an 18-inch knife and explosives hidden in a bag, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

Walter Wilson Johnson, 36, of Capitol Heights, Md., was stopped by Capitol Police at 2 p.m., last Wednesday, Jan. 20, when they checked his bag on an X-ray machine. At the time, President Clinton's lawyers, led by special counsel Gregory B. Craig, were presenting their second day of opening arguments before a crowded Senate chamber.

Johnson told police he kept the knife for "protection," authorities said.

Capitol Police said a search of Johnson's bag also turned up two M-60 explosive devices, a "terrorist handbook," weapons price lists, an article on the Oklahoma City bombing, survivalist materials, and a copy of Soldier of Fortune magazine.

One law enforcement source likened the M-60 devices to bottle rockets, and said Johnson was not carrying matches or a lighter to ignite them.

Johnson was jailed without bond on charges of carrying a dangerous weapon and possession of illegal explosives. On Monday, a federal judge ordered that he be held pending a psychiatric evaluation.

A follow-up hearing was set for March 17 after a report was cited that Johnson has a bipolar disorder.