Francisco Martin Duran (; born September 8, 1968) is an American convicted criminal and attempted assassin who, on October 29, 1994, fired 29 rounds from a
semi-automatic rifle
A semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single round each time the Trigger (firearms), trigger is pulled while automatically loading the next Cartridge (firearms), cartridge. These rifles were developed Pre-World War II, and w ...
at the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
in an attempt to kill
United States President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
. Duran was convicted of
attempted assassination and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Early life
Duran was born in
Barelas, an inner-city neighborhood of
Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...
,
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
.
He had six half-siblings, all born to different fathers, all of whom moved in and out of his life. His mother was a cleaning lady who received
food stamps and other government assistance.
Duran was arrested at 17 and charged with the attempted theft of a front-end loader that he was going to take for a
joyride. The judge made a deal with him that he would drop the charges if he enlisted in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
. Duran accepted the judge's deal quickly and willingly, and his mother gave her consent as he was a minor.
Military career
After
basic training
Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique dema ...
, Duran was selected as a
medical specialist
A medical specialty is a branch of medical practice that is focused on a defined group of patients, diseases, skills, or philosophy. Examples include those branches of medicine that deal exclusively with children (pediatrics), cancer ( oncology), ...
. His first tour of duty was with the
25th Light Infantry Division in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
. He was an unremarkable soldier. During this tour he fell in love and had a son; he was married shortly after.
On August 9, 1990, Duran and a group of Army friends got drunk at a bowling alley and were asked to leave when an argument broke out between the soldiers and some civilians about the soldiers' boisterous behavior. When the civilians blocked Duran as he tried to leave in his car, Duran confronted one of the civilians and drove away before returning and driving into the crowd outside, injuring a woman, before driving away.
He was stopped and arrested by
military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...
.
Duran was
court-martial
A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...
ed and found guilty of
drunk driving
Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash.
In the United States, alcohol is in ...
,
aggravated assault
In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result ...
,
drunken and disorderly conduct, and
leaving the scene of an accident. He was stripped of rank and sentenced to five years in prison at the
United States Disciplinary Barracks
The United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB), colloquially known as Leavenworth, is a military correctional facility located on Fort Leavenworth, a United States Army post in Kansas. It is one of two major prisons built on Fort Leavenwort ...
in
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...
, Kansas. He was released after two and a half years in 1993.
After his release, Duran settled in
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...
, and worked as an upholsterer.
Attempted assassination of Bill Clinton
On October 29, 1994, Duran, dressed in a trench coat, approached the fence overlooking the north lawn of the White House and fired 29
7.62×39mm rounds from a
Type 56 semi-automatic rifle
A semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single round each time the Trigger (firearms), trigger is pulled while automatically loading the next Cartridge (firearms), cartridge. These rifles were developed Pre-World War II, and w ...
(a Chinese copy of the
SKS) at a group of tourists wearing suits on the White House lawn, specifically a tourist whose haircut was said to resemble that of President Bill Clinton. Passersby wrestled Duran to the ground and subdued him until
Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...
agents arrived to take him into custody. Clinton was reportedly inside watching a football game at the time and was not harmed.
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
:
"Court Sentences Man to 40 Years For Trying to Kill the President,"
June 30, 1995, ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
,'' retrieved July 14, 2024
The incident was six weeks after
Frank Eugene Corder crashed a
Cessna
Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...
into the south lawn of the White House, and prompted debate about closing off traffic on that area of
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a primarily diagonal street in Washington, D.C. that connects the United States Capitol with the White House and then crosses northwest Washington, D.C. to Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown. Traveling through So ...
. No one was injured in the assassination attempt.
Trial
The most important charges in Duran's two-week trial were attempted murder of the president and four counts of assaulting a federal officer (gained while resisting the Secret Service agents). As Duran had previously been convicted of a felony (the Army vehicle ramming incident in 1990), he was not meant to own a firearm and was thus also charged with
illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The other charges were use of an assault weapon during a crime of violence, destruction of U.S. property, and interstate transportation of a firearm with intent to commit a felony.
Duran pleaded not guilty and mounted an
insanity defense
The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative Defense (legal), defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to a mental illness, psychiatric disease ...
, claiming that he was trying to save the world by destroying an alien "mist" connected by an
umbilical cord
In Placentalia, placental mammals, the umbilical cord (also called the navel string, birth cord or ''funiculus umbilicalis'') is a conduit between the developing embryo or fetus and the placenta. During prenatal development, the umbilical cord i ...
to an alien in the
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
mountains. Prosecutors argued he was faking insanity and called more than 60 witnesses to testify that Duran hated government in general and Clinton in particular. The jury deliberated for under five hours to reject the insanity defense and arrive at the guilty verdict.
He was sentenced to 40 years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge
Charles Robert Richey.
, Duran is serving his sentence at the high-security
United States Penitentiary, Lee. The
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all List of United States federal prisons, federal prisons ...
projects his release date to be 2029.
Inmate Locator, Federal Bureau of Prisons
. Access date 28 June 2011.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duran, Francisco Martin
1968 births
American failed assassins
American people convicted of assault
American people convicted of attempted murder
American prisoners and detainees
Attacks in the United States in 1994
Failed assassins of presidents of the United States
Inmates of United States Disciplinary Barracks
Living people
People from Albuquerque, New Mexico
Presidency of Bill Clinton
Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government
United States Army personnel who were court-martialed
White House intruders