According to an article published yesterday in the Arizona Daily Sun newspaper (serving Flagstaff and northern AZ), Daniel Morgan Perry, the passenger who on Monday disrupted a United Airlines flight from Hong Kong to Newark, New Jersey by ranting about national security and repeatedly screaming "I'm dead!", did indeed work for the U.S. State Department.

A spokeswoman for the State Department would only confirm that Perry worked for them up until 2006. She would not say how long Perry was employed with them nor where or in what capacity he served.

[link to azdailysun.com]

Perry was taken into federal custody immediately upon the flight's arrival at Newark's Liberty International Airport. Authorities who took Perry into custody stated they were taking him to University Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.