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To: mr.mark who wrote (12020)	5/18/2000 12:10:00 PM
From: SIer formerly known as Joe B.	Respond to of 32936

Angry Shareholder Halts Meeting With Grenade Thursday May 18 11:09 AM ET dailynews.yahoo.com HOUSTON (Reuters) - A man wielding a dud hand grenade brought a sudden halt to a stockholders' meeting in Houston on Wednesday, sending horrified investors rushing for the exit, but the device did not explode and nobody was hurt. Police arrested the man, identified as Andre Piazza, a 72-year-old Houston resident and former company employee, and said he would be charged with making a terroristic threat. The incident occurred at the annual stockholders' meeting of oil drilling contractor R&B Falcon Corp.(NYSE:FLC - news) that was being held in the Omni Hotel on Houston's West side. As the meeting opened, Piazza -- a well-known figure at the company's shareholder meetings -- started arguing with Chairman Paul Lloyd about the company's finances. Ignoring requests to save his remarks until later, Piazza rose to his feet and drew the grenade from a bag. ``Do you know what this is? This saved my life in Vietnam.'' A Reuters reporter at the meeting said about 60 stockholders ran for the doors after Piazza pulled out the grenade. Piazza then removed the safety pin but there was no explosion and he was overpowered by company officials who called police. Bomb squad officers called to the scene said the grenade was inert and could not have exploded. No explosive devices were found at the scene. After the meeting resumed Lloyd told stockholders Piazza was a former R&B Falcon employee who had been laid off from one of the company's drilling rigs in the 1970s. Piazza had voiced dissent at previous stockholder meetings but had not previously made any threats, Lloyd said.