Posted on 11/24/2010 9:48:36 AM PST by DCBryan1
NOVEMBER 24--A 77-year-old South Carolina man whose home was stocked with an arsenal of guns told Secret Service agents that he wanted to shoot Barack Obama “for what he has done to this country,” according to a criminal complaint charging him with threatening the president’s life.
Michael Bowden allegedly first spoke of killing Obama last week during a “routine check-up” at a Veterans Administration clinic in Spartanburg. Bowden, pictured in the mug shot at right, told a nurse that he “was thinking of traveling to Washington, DC, to shoot the President (Obama) because he is not doing enough to help African Americans,” according to an affidavit sworn by Agent Mark Booth.
In an interview last Wednesday with three federal investigators, Bowden acknowledged threatening Obama’s life at the VA facility.
In a sworn, written statement he noted that, “if I had the opportunity to put Obama against the wall and shoot him, I would.” Bowden added that if he could kill anyone, “I would kill, if possible, the President (Obama), for what he has done to this country.”
During a search of Bowden’s home, agents located three semi-automatic handguns and a semi-automatic rifle--all of which were “fully loaded, with rounds in the firing chamber--near his bed. In Bowden’s son’s bedroom, agents found 12 other guns, while a “loaded, short-barrel shotgun” was found near the home’s front door.
The jailed Bowden, who turns 78 on Friday, may soon be freed pending the completion of a psychiatric evaluation. One condition of his release will require Bowden to refrain from possessing a firearm.
(Excerpt) Read more at thesmokinggun.com ...
That would depend upon the precise nature of the statement. Suppose the statement were "If I had a button which I could push which would cause a swarm of 50,000 vultures to swarm in on XXX and rip him to shreds and scatter his bones to the winds, I would use it." I think most people would agree that the statement did not constitute a threat, because the person making it had no realistic expectation that he might ever actually be in position to use such a button. Such a statement would be a fantasy hypothetical, rather than an actual threat.
As to whether the statement at issue represents a real threat or a fantasy hypothetical, that would seem to bear further investigation. The antecedent clause would seem to be one that many people would regard as fantasy, but some might regard as achievable.
Yeah. And they missed a beat when they failed to call his home a “compound.”
LoL!
...what?
Sorry, but I don't see that as a threat. "If I could fly through solid walls and carry unlimited loads invisibly, I would steal all the gold in Fort Knox" doesn't strike me as a threat either. But that may only be because I hold old fashioned notions about common sense - like that it's relevant.
what did he do wrong?
The majority put this jackass into office, so they need to suffer good and he leave office a laughingstock and total disgrace.
It would be better if they could actually prove he was born in Kenya and remove him from office and then deport him, but that’s hoping for too much.
Too late. Tom DeLay was just found guilty for the crime of being a Republican.
Bookmark
Give um a break.
“This is America, we don’t assassinate leaders we impeach them or defeat them during the next election cycle.”
OTOH, this is America and federal gestapo goons kill Americans, like at Ruby Ridge and Waco.
I’d guess there’s a whole lot of threatening going on from both sides. This, I’d guess, is 21st century trash talk before full-scale hostilities break out. I’ve noticed recently that the fascist goons aren’t venturing out from Fort DC without a platoon-size armed guard. Poor Senator Gramnesty in South Carolina can’t travel the state without a 50 man Pretorian Guard.
May you live in interesting times...
I keep hearing, "This isn't your parents America".
I tend to agree.
Ah, my mistake then.
No comment . . . beyond . . . let them eat their own.
I don't like global BS or biggov beating our heads in.... It's not what were all about...It's about a bunch of states, filled with united people, ready to take back neighborhoods with support from every single freedom loving American.
No one dared mess with us after WWII...Cause we had a f'ing bellyful of death and destruction...
We were the GD badass war machine. Nobody messed with us. Hey, we were bad...Then nukes, and every SOB on the planet has access.
We forgot all about nationalism...Shaking our heads and arguing about every detail of everything. .....We don't ever know our neighbors names, or anything about them.
Why?
Respected planet wide...Now disrespected and hated....
Once we locked arms tight, we were united...Stood together tight.
What happened??
We helped the world, did out best.
Then the world turned on us like a mean wounded animal....Government now sees you as a problem....Heavy luggage....Costly...problematic.
What’s all that got to do with making threats to assassinate the POTUS?
I’m not overly happy with the direction of the county either however we have not degenerated into a turd-world country just yet...
He's almost 80 years old and likely suffering from dementia of some type.
Give um a break.
I don't think the ol guy is a bad Hombre..Know what ah mean?
Wow! First time I’ve ever seen an intro post deleted.
A conspiracy?
“This is Bobbys younger brother, (FSU Bobby).
I wonder if Bobby put him up to it, you know a dare. Put your tongue here (frozen flag pole).”
Those FSU guys are nuts. GO GATORS!!!;)
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