Red states

Kansas
A man spit tobacco juice into the face of Jane Fonda after waiting in line to have her sign her new memoir.

Capt. Rich Lockhart of the Kansas City Police Department said Michael A. Smith, 54, was arrested Tuesday night on a municipal charge of disorderly conduct. He was released on bond and is due to appear in court on May 27.

Fonda covers a wide range of topics in “My Life So Far,” including her 1972 visit to Hanoi to protest the Vietnam War, during which she was photographed on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun. She has apologized for the photo, but not for opposing the war.

Smith, a Vietnam veteran, told The Kansas City Star Wednesday that Fonda was a “traitor” and that her protests against the Vietnam War were unforgivable. He said he doesn’t chew tobacco but did so Tuesday solely to spit juice on the actress.

“I consider it a debt of honor,” he told The Star for a story on its Web site. “She spit in our faces for 37 years. It was absolutely worth it. There are a lot of veterans who would love to do what I did.”

Fonda, who flew to Minneapolis Wednesday for another appearance on her book tour, issued a statement through Jynne Martin of Random House.

“In spite of the incident, my experience in Kansas City was wonderful and I thank all the warm and supportive people, including so many veterans, who came to welcome me last night,” she said.

Fonda drew a crowd of about 900 at Unity Temple, said Vivian Jennings, whose Rainy Day Books of suburban Fairway, Kan., sponsored the event.

Jennings said the 67-year-old actress never got up from her seat and continued autographing books after the tobacco juice was wiped off.

“The important thing is that she was so calm and so gracious about it,” Jennings said. “She was wonderful.”

Florida
A man in Florida with car trouble is in another kind of trouble after shooting five rounds into the hood of his Chrysler “to put my car out of its misery.”

John McGivney, 64, shot his 1994 LeBaron with a .380-caliber semiautomatic, Broward County sheriff’s deputies said.

When the property manager at his apartment complex asked what he was doing, McGivney said, “I’m putting my car out of its misery.” He tucked his gun in a pocket and went back inside.

He was arrested Friday on a misdemeanor charge of discharging a firearm in public. He posted $100 bail Saturday.

McGivney said the car has been giving him trouble for years and had “outlived its usefulness.” He called the shooting “dumb” and worries he will be evicted. But he doesn’t regret it.

“I think every guy in the universe has wanted to do it,” McGivney told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “It was worth every damn minute in that jail.”

Texas
Eleven “Mad Max” fans in San Antonio armed with fake machine guns were arrested after they surrounded a tanker truck while making their way to a movie marathon in a theatrical convoy.

As the group headed to San Antonio on Saturday, police received several calls from drivers who reported a “militia” surrounding a tanker truck.

Police charged nine people with obstruction of a highway and two others with possession of prohibited knives in addition to the obstruction charge.

One of the organizers, Chris Fenner, said the arrests were unfair. He said he didn’t know why anyone would have confused the costumed crew recreating a scene from “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior” – set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland – with a real threat.

“I honestly don’t know how that could be, because ‘Road Warrior’ was so over the top,” he said.

The movie marathon was canceled after the arrests.