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Threat or not, 'life goes on' for Gov. Bush in normal way
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Tallahassee Deputy Bureau Chief TALLAHASSEE -- As police continued investigating what they called an "alleged threat" on the life of Gov. Jeb Bush Friday, a relaxed governor stuck to his schedule and said, "Life goes on." Security was tighter than normal in the Capitol, with several more plainclothes agents posted near Bush's office. And Yousef Ahmad Srour, a Broward County jail inmate who first passed on the alleged threat in a letter to Bush last month, appeared to be losing credibility. "There's been an alleged threat. I still have my doubts as to the credibility of the source of that threat," said Tim Moore, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. "But as we start these things, our goal is to prove them false or to prove them true. And we're going about the business of doing that." Moore said no allegation has been proven. He declined to discuss specifics. Srour, 36, a slightly built man with the nickname of "Rocky," remained in a cell in the Broward County Jail. He has been there since last July after being arrested on a drug charge while serving three years probation for pleading no contest to aggravated assault. Srour, a Jordanian native, had told authorities at least four men with possible Middle Eastern connections were plotting to have a truckload of explosives driven to the Capitol Friday, exactly four months after the Sept. 11 attacks. But Friday came and nothing happened. "There's nothing out of the ordinary in this regard," Bush said. "We have no evidence to suggest that anything is going to happen here." He flew home Thursday night after two days of campaign fundraisers in Washington and Pennsylvania. Agents questioned Srour's truthfulness. He reportedly failed at least three polygraph tests, and some agents speculated he was trying to cut a favorable deal for himself in a pending criminal case. Tony Alfero, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who represented Srour's former wife in her divorce last summer, remembered Srour as unkempt, unemployed and very difficult to find because he seemed to have no friends and was constantly changing addresses. "He was very peculiar. He made everything difficult," Alfero said. "He had a history of violence. He was extremely violent with my client. And threatening." Alfero said Srour acted as his own lawyer in his divorce, which coincidentally became final on Sept. 11. The Broward Sheriff's Office, in a departure from its normal policy, refused to release a copy of Srour's booking photo, which is a public record under Florida law, claiming that the law allows a "reasonable" delay before complying with such requests. "Our legal department has put a hold on it," said a sheriff's spokeswoman, Cheryl Stopnick. Bush saw a couple more TV cameras than usual at a news conference that opened with a loud thud. When a reporter shouted "Not the day for loud noises," Bush turned to Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan and said, "You can get up off the floor, lieutenant governor." The room erupted in laughter. Bush reflected on his father's experience with threats as president and vice president, and he recalled the 1981 assassination attempt on former President Reagan. He said he talked by phone to his three children, including his son George P. in Managua, Nicaragua, to let them know he was safe. He said he made the calls last night after learning from aides that the alleged threat was about to become public. "The system is working exactly as it should," Bush said. "Life goes on. This is part of the combination of being in public life, and the legitimate concerns that come from post-Sept. 11." - Times staff writer Lucy Morgan and researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.
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From the Times state desk Lucy Morgan
From the state wire
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