the atmosphere is collapsing

If anyone wanted to depict a ranging catastrophe, would there be better words than those attributed to Omar Jose Gonzalez, the 42-year-old veteran who scaled a White House fence on Friday and got to a door before being barred.

Authorities described him as "armed" because he had a pocket knife, but would a skilled soldier with 13 years of combat experience show up at an assassination with a pocket knife? It doesn't scan in my book.

Gonzales, of Copperas Cove, Texas, allegedly jumped the White House fence along Pennsylvania Avenue at 7:20 p.m. Friday, then crossed the North Lawn and opened the mansion’s front door before being apprehended by a Secret Service police officer standing guard....
According to court documents, Gonzales told Secret Service agents after being apprehended that the “atmosphere was collapsing” and that he had to tell the president so he could warn the public.

Crazy or sane, deluded or clear-eyed ... that's a hell of a description.