Man arrested for crashing into gate at Riverside County base

The Mercury News Posted on Thu, Apr. 03, 2003 Associated Press

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A man who allegedly expressed anti-American sentiments after crashing through a military base barricade was arrested Wednesday on charges of damaging government property.

Authorities said Eid Elwirelwir, a 26-year-old a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Venezuela, drove his car through a coiled-wire barricade at March Air Force Base on March 31. The car then crashed into a locked chain-link fence blocking entrance to the base. He was not injured.

Elwirelwir was initially arrested by Marine Corps sentries guarding the gate. At that time, he expressed numerous anti-American sentiments and said he believed he had been oppressed by the United States because he is Muslim, the FBI said in a criminal complaint.

On Wednesday, members of the FBI's joint terrorism task force went to Elwirelwir's Riverside home and took him into custody without incident. He remained in the custody of federal agents after an initial court appearance.

March Air Force Base is in Riverside County about 70 miles east of Los Angeles.