Cody Judy

__NOTOC__Cody Robert Judy (born 1966) is an American who publicly accosted Howard W. Hunter, an official of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on February 7, 1993.

Events of February 7, 1993

While preparing to speak at a "fireside" lecture being held at Brigham Young University's Marriott Center on February 7, 1993, then President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Hunter was confronted by Judy, who rushed onto the rostrum and threatened Hunter and the audience of 15,000–17,000. Judy carried a briefcase that he claimed contained a bomb, and held what appeared to be a detonator-like device. Judy demanded that Hunter read a three-page document that supposedly detailed God's plan for Judy to lead the church, which Hunter refused to do. After assaulting an elderly man who had approached him asking him to stop what he was doing, Judy ordered everyone to leave the rostrum except for Hunter; however, Hunter's bodyguards refused to leave. The audience spontaneously sang "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet", during which a man in the front row sprayed Judy with pepper spray. Students from the audience and then security personnel overtook him. After Judy was taken away, Hunter delivered his prepared remarks, a talk on facing adversity entitled, "An Anchor to the Souls of Men." [ [http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=7096 An Anchor to the Souls of Men - Howard W. Hunter ] ] The police later examined the briefcase and determined that it contained only books and papers and the detonator-like device was a telephone wrapped in electrical tape.

The fireside was being broadcast live, but was blacked-out as the hostage incident began. The entire fireside, including the blacked-out portion with Judy, was recorded by the Church Educational System, which holds a copyright on the material, and the incident has not been included in any re-broadcasts and recordings of the fireside released by the church. Portions of the blacked-out section were made available to the Utah County Attorney's office for purposes of prosecution, and later forwarded to the Utah Board of Pardons, but have not been made available to the public. [ [http://www.archives.state.ut.us/main/index.php?module=Pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=1&pid=132 archives.utah.gov ] ]

Aftermath

Judy was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison for the act. He was initially housed at the Utah State Hospital's forensic unit in Provo, Utah, but spent some time at the Utah State Prison after refusing to take his psychiatric medication. [ [http://web.ksl.com/dump/news/cc/feb00/cody.htm Utah News from KSL-TV, Salt Lake City, Utah ] ] In 1993, Judy escaped from the Utah State Hospital but was quickly apprehended after being tracked by K9 units. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20050426022814/http://users.sisna.com/wendellnope/news9410.htm Utah POST Service Dog Program Newsletter October 1994 ] ] He was paroled in November of 2000 after serving seven years.

During an interview on Salt Lake City's X96's Radio From Hell show, Judy claimed that he was not really lying, but simply referring to a "Book of Mormon" by its initials, BOM.

In 2002, Judy ran as a write-in candidate for an open Utah seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Judy received eight votes. [ [http://elections.utah.gov/2002%20General%20Canvass%20US%20House.pdf 2002 General Election Results] from official website for State of Utah elections]

In 2004, Judy lost as a write-in candidate for the United States Senate against Senator Bob Bennett, receiving sixteen votes. [ [http://elections.utah.gov/2004_canvass_ussenate.pdf 2004 Election Results] from official website for State of Utah elections]

Notes

References

*"California Man Threatens President Hunter, Fireside Audience With Fake Bomb" by Gail Sinnott and Carri P. Jenkins, "BYU Magazine", February 1993, pages 15-16
* [http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/57824 Daily Universe covers fireside threat on Pres. Hunter] , by Alicia Barney, BYU "Daily Universe", 8 December 2005

External links

* [http://www.ericdsnider.com/snide/codypendent/ "Codypendent"] by Eric D. Snider, "The Daily Herald" (Provo), June 7, 2002
* [http://www.theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=11106 BYU 100 Hour Board submission 11106] about Cody Judy, December 2004