A distraught man wearing what appeared to be a bomb walked into a Hillary Clinton campaign office and demanded to speak to the presidential candidate about access to mental health care. The hostage drama dragged on for nearly six hours until he peacefully surrendered.
Shortly after releasing the last of at least five hostages unharmed, a man who police identified as 46-year-old Leeland Eisenberg walked out of the storefront office, put down a homemade bomb-like package and was immediately surrounded by SWAT team with guns drawn. Clad in gray slacks, white dress shirt and a red tie, he was put on the ground and handcuffed.
Authorities said Eisenberg was strapped with what turned out to be road flares and demanded to speak to Clinton, who was in Washington during the day but traveled to New Hampshire on Friday night to meet the hostages, their families and police.
Police said the drama began shortly before 1pm, when the man walked into the office and peeled back his jacket to reveal what appeared to be a bomb duct-taped to his chest. He took several hostages, but let a woman with an infant go immediately.
Eisenberg had a hostage call CNN three times and he spoke to network staffers during the standoff, CNN reported after the ordeal was over and all the hostages were safe. Eisenberg said he wanted help getting psychiatric care, but had been turned away because he didn't have the money.
"I need to speak to Hillary Clinton," CNN quoted him as saying.
"Something's got to change. Ordinary people need help" with their insurance, he said.
The network described Eisenberg as "well-spoken, articulate and impassioned about his cause" but increasingly agitated.
His third phone call was laced with profanities, CNN said.
About two hours after Eisenberg let the woman and baby go, at least one other woman escaped from the office. Two other hostages made it out later, the last about half an hour before Eisenberg surrendered, police said.
Eisenberg entered the office about a half-hour before he was scheduled to appear in Strafford County court for a domestic violence hearing, the Foster's Daily Democrat said.
Eisenberg served time in prison in Massachusetts, records there show.
Diane Wiffin, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Correction, would not give details about the nature of his offense or length of his sentence.
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