Fire Power

The vandal struck Bellardi campaign headquarters again 13 days after setting the offices on fire with Molotov cocktails. This time the culprit used a high-powered hunting rifle, shattering the front windows and perforating new computers and office furniture. Detectives later determined that the shots had been fired from a rooftop two blocks away in the dead of night, probably with the aid of night-vision opticals.

The attacker signed all his communications to Senator Bellardi—including the ones taking credit for the firebombing and the shooting—"AntiCrist," thought to be a novice's attempt at "antichrist." Due to the amateurish nature of the attack by the seemingly simpleminded attacker, authorities had not been overly concerned. The attacker briefly and straightforwardly urged the senator to pull out of the race and leave North California alone.

The strongest reaction to AntiCrist's two attacks came from Patricia Bellardi. Though the general public and most of the campaign staff never learned about it, the senator's usually serene and confident wife suffered a mild breakdown in the face of such overt violence directed at her husband. A shooting two weeks later pushed her even farther over the edge. She begged Daniel to pull out of the race. The senator had listened and understood, but he did not yield. Every security precaution would be employed, he assured her, but he could not turn back now. Patricia was not
pleased.