White House Fence Jumper Was Looking for Chelsea Clinton

LITTLE ROCK – Chelsea Clinton, not any current occupants of the White House, was the preoccupation of an Arkansas man arrested after he jumped over a fence onto the grounds of the executive mansion at Washington, according to a preliminary psychological assessment.

A court-ordered report from the District of Columbia Department of Mental Health said Shawn Cox, 29, of Mammoth Spring believed that Chelsea Clinton still lived at the White House, and that he was destined to marry her.

Clinton is the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and lived at the White House during her father's two terms as president, 1993-2001.

Cox was arrested Sunday at the White House by the Secret Service, which provides protection for presidents and their families, after scaling the fence separating the mansion's north lawn from public sidewalks. A judge sent him to St. Elizabeth's Hospital, which provides mental-health services to D.C. residents, for a month of evaluation before a scheduled Jan. 6 court appearance.

Robert Benedetti, a licensed clinical psychologist, said in a report filed with the court that Cox appeared "grossly psychotic and manic." The report said Cox told Benedetti that he had been hospitalized in Arkansas several years ago.

Cox told Benedetti his head was a "cell phone implanted by Jesus," the report said.

"He insisted that Chelsea Clinton was in the White House as well as President Bush and described how former President Bill Clinton had told him that (Cox) was 'going to marry my daughter' when he had met him in Arkansas," Benedetti wrote.

Cox is a possible danger to himself and others, the report said, and should be closely monitored.