2010-09-03 10:13

Lee, who was periodically homeless, was charged with disorderly conduct in February 2008 after he staged a "Save the Planet" protest outside the Discovery building. He threw fistfuls of cash in the air and paid homeless people to carry signs condemning the network. Police found him with a duffel bag stuffed with more than $20,000, according to court records.

Acting as his own lawyer during the trial, he described himself as a peace activist who wanted "to save the planet, of course."

He served two weeks in jail and was ordered to stay 500 feet away from Discovery headquarters as part of his probation, which ended two weeks ago.

Twice since then, including the day of the fatal confrontation, Silver Spring resident Christopher Ekakoro came across Lee by chance. The first time, Ekakoro said, Lee took offense to some evangelizing Ekakoro was doing on a bus and ripped up an image of Jesus that Ekakoro had been handing out.

"I set him off. He said there is no God and why would I be collecting money for something that doesn't exist," Ekakoro said.

Ekakoro saw Lee again Wednesday near a mall a few miles from the Discovery headquarters. Lee was again dressed in a green military-style uniform and was pushing boxes on a stroller. Ekakoro wanted to try to engage Lee again, but Ekakoro's wife talked him out of it.

"He was focused. He knew what he was doing," Ekakoro said.

Lee's first known run-in with the law came in 2003 in San Diego, where he was convicted in federal court of smuggling aliens into the US.

He wrote a forlorn letter to the judge expressing his unhappiness.

"After 36 years of my life I have absolutely nothing to show for it," Lee wrote. "As for family, all I can say is that I avoid them to preserve my sanity. I think that they are better off without me in their lives."

He went on to write: "I don't know if my life will end with a happy ending, but all I ask is for an ending that is not in prison."

In court and on his website, he had demanded an end to Discovery Communications' shows such as TLC's "Kate Plus 8" and "19 Kids and Counting." He said the network should air "programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility."

Lee also objected to Discovery's environmental programming.

The Discovery building reopened for a short time Thursday. Employees were then given the afternoon off, and the building will be closed Friday.