Dwight Watson during the standoff

Dwight Ware Watson (b. September 28, 1952), dubbed the "Tractor Man" in the media, is a tobacco farmer from Whitakers, North Carolina, who brought much of Washington, DC to a standstill for two days when he drove a tractor into a pond on the National Mall and claimed to have explosives. Image File history File links Dwight_Watson. ... Image File history File links Dwight_Watson. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (272nd in leap years). ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Species Nicotiana acuminata Nicotiana alata Nicotiana attenuata Nicotiana benthamiana Nicotiana clevelandii Nicotiana excelsior Nicotiana forgetiana Nicotiana glauca Nicotiana glutinosa Nicotiana langsdorffii Nicotiana longiflora Nicotiana obtusifolia Nicotiana paniculata Nicotiana plumbagifolia Nicotiana quadrivalvis Nicotiana repanda Nicotiana rustica Nicotianasuaveolens Nicotiana sylvestris Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana tomentosa Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005... Whitakers (pronounced /ˈwɪtəkəɹz/) is a town located in Edgecombe County and Nash County in North Carolina. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. ...

Background

Watson was previously an MP with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. He had increasing difficulty making a living on his 1,200 acre tobacco farm in rural Nash County, North Carolina, which had been in his family for several generations. Watson blamed federal tobacco policies for his difficulties, and was said to have engaged in hour-long harangues on this issue at such places as the local grocery store. In 1999, Watson reportedly made his first protest visit to D.C. with his tractor, but left after driving around the city for awhile without incident. Following a drought in his state and the cutting of his crop quota by half, Watson finally decided that he was incapable of affording the farm and again drove to D.C. the second weekend of March, 2003. Branch insignia of the Military Police Corps The Military Police Corps is the law enforcement of the United States Armed Forces. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... The 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army was Constituted in the National Army as the 82nd Division on August 5, 1917, and was Organized on August 25, 1917, at Camp Gordon, Georgia. ... Fort Bragg is a census-designated place and a major United States Army fort, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, USA, near Fayetteville. ... Nash County is a county located in the state of North Carolina. ...

Watson's standoff

On March 17, 2003, at around 12:30 p.m. (EST), Watson, wearing a military helmet and displaying an upside down American flag, drove a John Deere tractor towing two vehicles into a shallow pond in Constitution Gardens near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Watson said that he was protesting the cutting of federal tobacco subsidies (on which he blamed his own farm's failure) and the government's treatment of Gulf War veterans. According to law enforcement, Watson claimed to have explosives that he would detonate if police approached him. March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in Leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A John Deere 7800 tractor attached to a hairy beaver A JD 9410 combine A John Deere 9520T Image:Combine 9860sts action96803. ... Constitution Gardens is part of the National Mall in Washington, DC. The 50 acre (200,000 m²) park is located in between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, bounded on the north by Constitution Avenue and on the south by the Reflecting Pool. ... The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a national war memorial located in Washington, D.C. that honors members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. ... Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders George H. W. Bush Norman Schwarzkopf Colin Powell Saddam Hussein Ali Hassan al-Majid Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also called...

In response to Watson's threats, the United States Park Police cordoned off a large area on the Mall extending from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument. Several nearby government offices were also evacuated and major traffic arteries in the area were closed, which caused massive jams and paralyzed traffic across the Washington metropolitan area for four consecutive rush hours. The United States Park Police is the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agency in the United States. ... The Lincoln Memorial, on the extended axis of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial built for United States President Abraham Lincoln. ... The Washington Monument at dusk The Washington Monument usually refers to the large white-colored obelisk in the center of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. It is a United States Presidential Memorial built for George Washington, the first President of the United States and the leader of the... Rush hour at Tokyo Station, Yamanote Line A rush hour is a part of the day with busy traffic and hence traffic congestion on the roads and crowded public transport; normally the two periods in a day when people are travelling to or from work or school. ...

A SWAT team composed of around 200 FBI and Park Police officers kept the pond surrounded as Watson drove his tractor around in circles, dug up part of an island in the pond, and communicated with authorities and the media on a cell phone. Watson finally surrendered to federal authorities on March 19 after a 48-hour standoff. No explosives were found. Special response teams are heavily armed and armored. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ...

Trial and sentencing

Watson was subsequently charged with the federal crimes of making a false threat to detonate explosives and for destroying federal property, and stood trial in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Watson initially represented himself, and unsuccessfully tried to subpoena such figures as Bill Clinton and Jesse Ventura, whom the judge refused as irrelevant to his case. He testified that his comments about having an "organophosphate bomb" only referred to the two cans of Raid bug bombs he had in the tractor, which he threatened to use if he didn't get media coverage only because he wished to demonstrate the harmfulness of insecticides. In his pretrial interrogation, however, he had acknowledged that he intentionally let law enforcement continue to believe that he actually had explosives. The jury deliberated for only an hour, and returned a guilty verdict on both charges on September 26, 2003. Map of the boundaries of the United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. ... A subpoena is a writ commanding a person to appear under penalty (from Latin). ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Jesse The Body Ventura (born July 15, 1951, as James George Janos) was elected the 38th Governor of Minnesota on November 3, 1998, after a career as Navy SEAL, professional wrestler, actor, mayor, and radio talk show host. ... An organophosphate (sometimes abbreviated OP) is the general name for esters of phosphoric acid and is one of the organophosphorus compounds. ... Raid Ant & Roach spray Raid is the brand name of a line of insecticides produced by SC Johnson, first launched in 1956. ... A insecticide is a pesticide used against insects in all development forms. ... September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 96 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Watson's sentencing was repeatedly delayed, particularly for a psychiatric evaluation ordered by the presiding judge, Thomas Penfield Jackson, who questioned Watson's mental health. Judge Jackson finally sentenced Watson to six years, far above the federal sentencing guidelines of sixteen months, based on what he saw as Watson's menacing conduct and the chaos his standoff had caused. However, following the Supreme Court's ruling in Blakely v. Washington (2004) that judges could not impose stiffer sentences based on facts that a jury had not decided, Judge Jackson reduced the sentence to sixteen months on June 30, 2004. As Watson had already served over fifteen months by that time, he was released the next day and returned to his family and farm in North Carolina. Thomas Penfield Jackson (born January 10, 1937) was a US District Court Judge for the District of Columbia. ... The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... Holding The State of Washingtons criminal sentencing system violated the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial, because it gave judges the ability to increase sentences based on their own determination of facts. ...

Reactions

The fact that one man had managed to disrupt so much of the nation's capital and hold federal law enforcement officers at bay for two days raised many concerns over the vulnerability of Washington to future terrorist attacks, especially coming mere months after the Beltway sniper killings and coinciding with the build-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Many criticized the authorities for their passive handling of Watson, as he was even left alone to sleep aboard his tractor during the two-day standoff. Washington Times columnist Tony Blankley wrote that "[o]n the eve of a multi-billion dollar, high-technology war, our security perimeter has been penetrated and downtown traffic has come to a standstill. ... The Park Police should just drag Dwight and his John Deere out of the pond, slap him on the wrist and get ready for the real enemies in our midst." Others argued that the threat of a possible explosion on the Mall required patience and a peaceful resolution. Terrorism refers to a strategy of using violence, or threat of violence to generate fear, cause disruption, and ultimately, to bring about compliance with specific political, religious, ideological, and personal demands. ... Lee Boyd Malvo John Allen Muhammad The Beltway Sniper attacks took place during three weeks of October 2002 in the eastern United States. ... Combatants Coalition Forces (United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Poland) Iraq Commanders Tommy Franks Saddam Hussein Strength 263,000 375,000 The 2003 invasion of Iraq, termed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the US administration, began on March 20. ... The Washington Times is a daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1982 as a conservative alternative to the Washington Post by members of the controversial Unification Church. ... Tony Blankley Tony Blankley (born 1948 in the United Kingdom) is the editorial page editor for the The Washington Times, co-host of the nationally syndicated public radio program Left, Right & Center, and author of The Wests Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations? Additionally, Blankley is...

In a statement issued the same day that Watson surrendered, North Carolina Congressman Bob Etheridge stated that while he did not condone Watson's actions, the farmer personified "the growing pain and frustration felt in tobacco country...We must not miss this opportunity to address the very real problems of tobacco country and rural America." Others, including other farmers in his home state, have since looked to Watson as a patriot who simply used civil disobedience to air legitimate complaints.[1],[2] Seal of the House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is, along with the United States Senate, one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States. ... Rep. ... It has been suggested that Civil and social disobedience be merged into this article or section. ...

In 1982, an incident similar to Watson's ended differently. After a ten hour standoff, police shot and killed nuclear weapons protester Norman Mayer, who was threatening to blow up the Washington Monument. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... Mayer protesting Norman David Mayer (March 31, 1916 - December 9, 1982) was an anti-nuclear weapons activist who was shot and killed by the United States Park Police after threatening to blow up the Washington Monument. ... The Washington Monument at dusk The Washington Monument usually refers to the large white-colored obelisk in the center of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. It is a United States Presidential Memorial built for George Washington, the first President of the United States and the leader of the...

References

• Federal Criminal Complaint against Dwight W. Watson
• Tractor standoff ends peacefully in Washington, CNN.com, March 19, 2003.
• Trial Opens Today For Tractor Driver in D.C. Standoff, by Carol D. Leonnig. Washington Post, September 17, 2003.
• Farmer's Explosive? A Bug Bomb, by Carol D. Leonnig. Washington Post, September 26, 2003.
• U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge's Statement Regarding the Resolution of the Dwight Watson Situation, March 19, 2003.
• N.C. farmers relate to man's grievance, Associated Press. March 22, 2003, The Sun News. Google cached version.
• The Bug Bomber, by Angela Valkyrie. Altermedia news U.S.A., October 1, 2003.