Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, has been the target of several assassination threats and alleged plots since he first became a presidential candidate in 2007. Secret Service protection for Obama began after the Senator received a death threat in 2007, when Obama was still serving as then the junior U.S. Senator of Illinois and running for president. This marked the first time a candidate received such protection before being nominated.[1] Security was increased early for Barack Obama due to fears of possible assassination attempts by white supremacist or other racist groups or individuals against the first African American major party presidential candidate.[2][3][4]
Some of the threats have been extended to members of Obama's family, including First Lady Michelle Obama.[5][6][7][8] Obama and his officials have generally declined to discuss death threats against him since entering the presidential race.[1][5] Some commentators have suggested the unusually high amount of death threats surrounding Obama are at least partially tied to the use of racist imagery and words used by some of Obama's critics to describe the president.[2]
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Jerry Blanchard, an accountant from Charlotte, North Carolina, was indicted for threatening to kill Obama during a July 15, 2008 breakfast at a Charlotte Waffle House.[5][9] Two customers said Blanchard told them, "Obama and his wife are never going to make it to the White House. He needs to be taken out and I can do it in a heartbeat."[5] The customers contacted the Secret Service, who questioned Blanchard. He denied making the threats, but allegedly told the Secret Service agents he believed Obama was the "Antichrist" prophesied in the Bible.[5][9] The Secret Service later got a second call from an employee of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Charlotte,[10] where Blanchard was overheard in the lobby restroom saying into his cell phone, "I'll get a sniper rifle and take care of it myself. Somebody's got to do it ... We both know Obama is the anti-Christ."[5] Blanchard had claimed he would buy a sniper rifle and pistol from the Hyatt Gun Shop in Charlotte. The gun shop owner said Blanchard has visited the store but did not buy any weapons.[5] Blanchard was placed into custody on felony charges of making threats against a major candidate for president, and a psychiatric evaluation was ordered. It has been questioned how much evidence existed that he planned to actually go through with an assassination attempt.[5][9]
Raymond H. Geisel was charged with making threatening statements against Obama during a bail-bonds training class on July 31, 2008, in Miami, Florida.[9] During the course, Geisel referred to Obama with a racial epithet and said, "If he gets elected, I'll assassinate him myself."[2] Geisel also threatened to put a bullet in the head of then-President Bush, although Geisel later claimed he was joking. In his hotel room, authorities found ammunition, body armor, a combat-style hatchet, tear gas, a loaded 9 mm handgun and four loaded magazines. Geisel said he collected firearms, and was only using the gun for his bail-bonds course. Geisel remained in custody for a month.[2][9]
Three men allegedly discussed shooting Barack Obama, then the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nominee, during his acceptance speech on the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Cousins Tharin Gartrell and Shawn Adolf, and their friend Nathan Johnson, allegedly came to Denver specifically to kill Obama, and discussed in their hotel room how they could assassinate him.[1][11][12][13] On August 24, 2008, Gartrell was arrested when police found his truck filled with weapons and narcotics.[14][15][16] Johnson and Adolf were arrested shortly thereafter and, during a televised interview, Johnson later indicated Adolf was the one who planned the alleged threat.[12][17] Authorities later downplayed the threats and indicated the trio had little chance of successfully killing Obama.[4][12]
Paul Schlesselman and Daniel Cowart, two men with strong white supremacist beliefs, allegedly planned a murder spree of 88 African Americans in Tennessee, many of whom were to be young students at an unidentified, predominantly black school. They allegedly planned to end the spree by driving their vehicle toward Barack Obama as fast as they could and shooting at him from the windows.[18][19] The two men were arrested on October 22, 2008, after they bragged to their friends about firing shots at a church in Brownsville, Tennessee.[18][20] Schlesselman and Cowart were in possession of several guns during their arrest, and they allegedly told police they intended to rob a firearms dealer and other stores to secure more weapons for the attack.[21]
In October 2008, it was widely reported that someone yelled "Kill him" at a Scranton, Pennsylvania Sarah Palin rally when Obama's name was mentioned. The Secret Service denied this claim, but a Scranton Times-Tribune editor said, “We stand by the story. The facts reported are true and that’s really all there is.”[22] However, widely circulated videos of McCain rallies confirm similar incidents.[23]
Kristy Lee Roshia, 35, called the Boston office of the Secret Service on November 10, 2009, and told them she planned to "blow away" First Lady Michelle Obama while the family visited Honolulu, Hawaii for a Christmas vacation. She also indicated she planned to shoot members of the United States Marines Corps.[6][7][8] Roshia told authorities she knew "the exact location" the Obama family would be staying. Information that Roshia provided to the Boston office was consistent with the itinerary of the Obama family at the Secret Service office in Hawaii, and authorities believe Roshia had observed Secret Service agents in the area of the Kailua Beach home where the Obamas had previously stayed.[7] Roshia had a history of calling the Boston office and making threats, and told the agency in 2004 that she intended to assassinate then-President George W. Bush, although she contradictorily added that she had no desire to hurt him. Following her threatening call, Roshia was arrested two miles from the Honolulu house the Obama family had booked for their vacation. She allegedly struck an officer in the face and arms while he tried to detain her. Roshia was charged with threatening a family member of the president and assaulting a federal agent while being arrested.[6] A federal judge has ordered Roshia to undergo a mental competency examination.[7]
On April 25, 2010, Joseph McVey, 23, was arrested in Asheville, North Carolina. Police say he impersonated a police officer at the city's airport as the President left the airport on Air Force One. McVey is being held on a charge of going armed to the terror of the public as well as being charged for false impersonation of a police officer, according to the Buncombe County jail's booking office. McVey's bail was set at $100,000. Airport police Capt. Kevan Smith said the suspect was driving a car that was made to look like a law enforcement vehicle with working lights and sirens. He would provide no further details about the suspect, but emphasized that the president was never in any danger.[24]
As a result of a trial in North Carolina following the arrest, the original charge of Going Armed to the Terror of the Public was dismissed due to a lack of supporting facts. During the trial, police who arrested McVey revealed that nothing McVey had in his vehicle, a Pontiac Grand Prix (a vehicle no law enforcement agency regularly uses), was there without valid reason for his public service volunteering in Ohio. Further, McVey was found guilty of a violation of city ordinance (the same charge applied to those caught skateboarding on a city sidewalk).
In May 2011 Irish Muslim militant Khalid Kelly was arrested for threatening to assassinate Barack Obama. In an interview with the Sunday Mirror he said that al-Qaeda was likely to kill Obama on his upcoming trip to Ireland. He reportedly said he would like to do it himself, but was too well known. He stated, "Personally I would feel happy if Obama was killed. How could I not feel happy when a big enemy of Islam is gone?"[25]
Around 9pm on Friday November 11, 2011, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez fired a Romanian Cugir semiautomatic rifle from his car parked on Constitution Avenue. Nine rounds were fired, one of which was found lodged in a window of the first family's living quarters. He was arrested five days later in a hotel in Pennsylvania. Obama was not at the White House at the time of the shooting, but Federal prosecutors launched an investigation to determine if Hernandez acted out of hatred for Obama.[26] Subsequently, writings by Hernandez and testimony from those who knew him showed that he believed President Obama was the antichrist and the "devil".[27]
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