- Feb 5, 2002
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ROME – Amid the usual cascade of news out of the Vatican in recent days was a curious item, which, among other things, touches upon the ever-vexed matter of papal security. It involves the arrest of a U.S. fugitive captured in St. Peter’s Square, armed with three knives, just before Pope Francis’s regular Wednesday General Audience on April 10.
53-year-old Moises Tejada, who has been classified as “extremely violent” by the New York State Department of Corrections and its Office of Special investigations on the basis of convictions for robbery and kidnapping, was flagged by Italian police that morning for suspicious behavior and detained, which led to the discovery of the three eight-inch knives in his possession.
It’s not clear if Tejada intended to pose any threat to the pope. According to reports in the Italian press, he told police he’d just arrived in Rome from Moldavia after leaving Ukraine, where, he claimed, he’d been engaged in fighting the Russians.
Tejada had been released from a New York maximum security prison on parole in March 2022, after being convicted for posing as a potential buyer, tying up and beating a real estate agent and stealing his car. He was placed on New York’s “most wanted” list after being reported for violating his parole. He’s now behind bars in Italy awaiting a formal extradition request.
Continued below.
cruxnow.com
53-year-old Moises Tejada, who has been classified as “extremely violent” by the New York State Department of Corrections and its Office of Special investigations on the basis of convictions for robbery and kidnapping, was flagged by Italian police that morning for suspicious behavior and detained, which led to the discovery of the three eight-inch knives in his possession.
It’s not clear if Tejada intended to pose any threat to the pope. According to reports in the Italian press, he told police he’d just arrived in Rome from Moldavia after leaving Ukraine, where, he claimed, he’d been engaged in fighting the Russians.
Tejada had been released from a New York maximum security prison on parole in March 2022, after being convicted for posing as a potential buyer, tying up and beating a real estate agent and stealing his car. He was placed on New York’s “most wanted” list after being reported for violating his parole. He’s now behind bars in Italy awaiting a formal extradition request.
Continued below.
Why Popes don’t see security quite like Presidents or Prime Ministers
I’ve had occasion to compare the security apparatus involved in the public events of a pope as compared to, say, a President of the United States, and the barriers separating a pope from the public are simply far less formidable.
