Four arrested for plotting Obama assassination
By Nicole Belle Monday Aug 25, 2008 11:00am
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CBS4 has learned at least four people are under arrest in connection with a possible plot to kill Barack Obama at his Thursday night acceptance speech in Denver. All are being held on either drug or weapons charges.
CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass reported one of the suspects told authorities they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a ... rifle ... sighted at 750 yards."
Law enforcement sources tell Maass that one of the suspects "was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative."
The story began emerging Sunday morning when Aurora police arrested 28-year-old Tharin Gartrell. He was driving a rented pickup truck in an erratic manner according to sources.
Sources told CBS4 police found two high-powered, scoped rifles in the car along with camouflage clothing, walkie-talkies, wigs, a bulletproof vest, a spotting scope, licenses in the names of other people and 44 grams of methamphetamine. One of the rifles is listed as stolen from Kansas.
However, almost as quickly as news began to spread of this alleged assassination plot, the Feds came in and dismissed it.
Federal officials said verbal threats against Obama were made, but were not considered credible.
"This is a methamphetamine and firearms case that arose from a traffic stop made by an Aurora Police officer," said Paul Bresson, an FBI national spokesman assigned to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week. "Firearms and methamphetamine were seized and a number of individuals are in state custody. The matter continues to be under investigation. We'll provide more information as it becomes available."
"It could also turn out that these were nothing but a bunch of knuckleheads, meth heads," a U.S. government official said.
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What, bill o'really wasn't involved?
Got to keep an eye open for these freaks!
mudshark @ 1:
I'm sure of it.
Besides domestic cracker heads
I wouldn't be surprised if Islamic radicals consider Obama an apostate (his father is supposedly and unactive Islamic), and want to make an example of him.
Sheer luck that one was so methed up he drew the attention of the police.
And then you have pompous self-important TV "personalities" practically lunging at him from the crowds.
"Verbal threats"? What other kind are there? Tossing in "verbal" is meant to make the threats seem not so bad.
One must wonder if similar threats against McSame would be considered "credible".
Fear not! The Praetorian Guard is on the job.
It's interesting how the CNN live feed of the briefing corresponded so perfectly with the beginning of Michelle Obama's speech.
Unfortunately, there will always be racists who cannot swallow the fact of having a Black president, and there will probably be more attempts. The Secret Service will need to be even more alert if/when Obama takes office. This country would be better off in so many ways without these idiot racists.
Sure, these guys were knuckleheads, but maybe they were guys being set-up?
How is it that if it were within 50 miles of any army base, it'd be an immediate terrorism case with Gitmo sentences for 5 years before a preliminary hearing, but since it's at the DNC, it's a mere "meth-and-gun" case?
Nothing to see here, folks.
the uber-racists are comming out of the woodwork it seems... i am afraid barack won´t last long...
Most likely Limbaugh fans -- if their IQ is even that high.
As the saying goes, they're out there -- and they vote.
Oh...the "Feds"...read Justice Department...is downplaying this event.
That wouldn't be the BUSH Justice Department. You know, the one that backstops illegal wiretapping, doesn't prosecute bias cases, runs cover for racist organizations masquerading as churches...would it?
all the Billie-Bobs are coming out of the woodwork
So because it's a bunch of meth-heads, this isn't a credible threat?
Give me a fracking break. We've spent the past seven years going gog-a-wolly at everything from boxes with blinking lights, college students with circuit boards on their hoodies, teenagers dropping 'Joker' themed playing cards, and piles of flour, and this - people with intent and actual firearms - isn't CREDIBLE?
This is the problem with crying OMFG! T3rR0rz! all the time. When the next threat shows up, people simply don't believe that you're competent - whether or not it's 'a bunch of knuckleheads' or not.
ysbaddaden @ 4:
that will play into mcBush's hands.
The story is bunk. If Obama was in danger it would be from the Clintons or the Neocons (which are actually one in the same).
BigIslandDave @ 14:
The IQ of Limbaugh fans are less than Limbaugh's weight.
barkin @ 13:
Like the SS is going to protect him. In this case, they were clueless.
too bad the secret service can´t keep a lid on racism within their own ranks... obama´s a gonner...
http://cryptome.org/usss-racism.htm
Don @ 16:
Yeah...like the imbecile that spoke to the media and claimed..."Obama is a REGISTERED Muslim".
What's this bullshit about "investigating"??? Somebody somewhere thinks they're guilty so off to Guantanamo with them. Gathering evidence is a huge waste of time and tax-payer dollars. So are lawyers. A tribunal without them present is more than good enough.
I hope and pray that Obama gets the same protection as George.
These knuckleheads are not the only ones out there who want to harm him.
I don't buy the Fed's line that the threats were not credible. That's gov't doublespeak at it's best. Look for more of these threats in the future. Some people just can't abide the idea of a non-white person running for president.
Move on People, Nothing to see here @ 11:
I'll believe that if they die suddenly!
One guy went to a church and shot everyone he could.
Another guy kills a leading Democrat.
These guys have a scoped rifle and meth-generated nerve and ammo.
thirty years of hate-speech on the airwaves. what else can we expect?
we have the answer: domestic terror cells.
i can see it now, four spuds sitting on the back porch, unemployed listening to Rush Limpbaugh, sean insannity and bill'o liely.
no wonder they are angry, karl bush and mcsame told them it's the democrats fault for the past eight years of maladministration of our once great nation.
remember us when we clear the government of fascist neocons on November 4th.
Well it's news, but I'm skipping this discussion makes me uncomfortable.....
It gives more hope to the KKK and drives more crazy ideas into the minds of deranged people who would try to make this their mission.
CafeenMan @ 24:
They're guilty. If they weren't they wouldn't be carrying guns. And they're druggies, so send them off to prison. If they complain tell them that Bush is protecting them from terrorists....like them.
ysbaddaden @ 4:
Baraka Obama's father died when Obama was 21, or over 24 years ago...
barkin @ 13:
can that shit!
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 27:
GOP diplomacy.
The GOP convinced the Hatfield and McCoy hillbillies to stop shooting at one another and start shooting at "them diry libruls and black people".
do you think we should consider the FBI
is now part of blackwater and won't be
held accountable for any stupidity when
they fail to protect b obama from harm?
they can't find the real anthrax culprit
in over 7 yrs, but they are right on top
of this and dismiss it within 12 hours........
as long as bush/cheney are in office or not
we the American people should ALL be very
vigilant to protect ourselves from any of
their illegal intrusions into our lives.......
Jeff @ 12:
Well, actually it was only nine miles from an a military base.
Doggiebobo @ 31:
I do not think a 'fatwa' has been called on Obama for any reason.
Liberal AND Proud @ 20:
Dude, the IQ of Stephen Hawking is less than Limbaugh's weight.
Aryan Nation. They'll never give up. That's the way they are. Time for the Feds to go after these cretins.
They're down playing this right now because it's an on going investigation. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a raid and gun battles in the near future over this.
Jeff @ 37:
LOL. I'm sorry...I realized it after I typed it! LOL! Good catch!
Doggiebobo @ 31:
That would make no difference to people looking for a reason.
It's like being Jewish, if your mother is Jewish you're born Jewish.
In Islam, like Rome, if your father is Islamic your born Islamic.
In our section of the world we don't see religion that way, but there are corners of the world who does.
I'm not backing the idea that Obama is some kind of Manchurian candidate.
Jeff Boatright @ 7:
Uh...Maybe they tossed in "verbal" because they weren't "w-r-i-t-t-e-n".
Sheesh.
dadams @ 34:
mudshark @ 38:
Go after them? They make up a huge block of support for the GOP.
mudshark @ 38:
that is only if they care more about this country than they so far have let on.
“It could also turn out that these were nothing but a bunch of knuckleheads, meth heads,” a U.S. government official said.
So if a group of men want to assasinate Obama and are not affiliated with any government organization or terrorist group they are just nothing more than a bunch of knuckheads. Boy, that's a relief.
I am being sarcastic of course.
Liberal AND Proud @ 43:
sad but true.
Johnny2Bad @ 41:
THAT was funny!
Move on People, Nothing to see here @ 11:
I think that this could actually be call from the neocon village to perform the task. I don't have anything to support the theory, but I agree this seems suspicious. Sure people say some cracked things while jacked up on meth, and there have been many cracked comments made in this forum in similar regards to GWB and Cheney. But we are just nutty liberals that can't take our arms from around our tree.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 32:
what shit? it´s the reality of modern america... i´m not wishing him harm, but obviosly someone is and the SS are part of the problem... the truth is hard to hear, buddy...
http://cryptome.org/usss-racism.htm
Liberal AND Proud @ 39:
The sick and fevered Limbaugh's weight -- all that bile and venom and pus and gelatinous fat -- is really beyond comparison. Add a few boils and cysts on his lily-white ass, and ...
Liberal AND Proud @ 20:
I think all our IQ's are less than Limbaugh's weight.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 44:
These losers really fucked up in a big way. They just exposed a plot to assassinate a Pres candidate. The feds will dig deep into this. This is just the beginning. Somewhere on some compound right now, these losers buddy's are getting ready. To either run, or fight.
This whole thing scares me and some of the comments here scare me too. I'm glad they got the guys. That's the important thing for now.
Authorities say man arrested near Denver with rifle never posed 'credible threat' to Obama
By STEVEN K. PAULSON | Associated Press Writer
Chicago Tribune
10:10 AM CDT, August 26, 2008
Well DUH!
Who'da thought that was coming?
It is the U.S.A.
Don't you try to kill everyone who wants to do something good for the world?
You could tell from reading the first three paragraphs of the story that it was false. At least the feds blew the story apart quickly, unlike many past incidents which were hyped as 'terror plots' and took months to reveal them as nothing more than shams or FBI informant-provoked activity.
Was this blown so easily because the folks were white? One wonders.
At first glance I see Arian Nations all over this. Profile of racist activities funded by meth.
Some of my wife's co-workers offered that it doesn't matter if Obama gets elected because he will get assassinated anyway (because he is, in their words, a "Super-Muslim"). This was passed off in conversation as if it were a normal statement from a Serious person. My wife was beside herself and couldn't even respond to something so despicable.
Oh, and this woman is a middle school teacher. In charge of educating children. Advocating that its OK to assassinate someone because they are supposedly of a different religion and skin color.
Yes we live in the south.
Pawn @ 51:
That would be ARYAN NATIONS.
Calling these criminals Knuckleheads is an insult to Knucklehead Smith.
I wrote this paranoid little musing to some friends the other day, but thought this "conspiracy theory" might apply here...
The background basis for my thoughts are in Naomi Klein's book "The Shock Doctrine" and John Perkins "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" but I will try and summarize.
It starts with the history of electro-shock therapy research in treating the mentally ill in the fifties. The CIA was interested in this research for it's own reasons (mostly paranoia that the Chinese had already mastered the techniques of "brainwashing" a la "The Manchurian Candidate") and funded many of these studies. The goal of one of the more fringe researchers was to essentially "erase" a person through various techniques so he could then "rebuild" them in a healthy way, thus "curing" them. These techniques included such monstrous things as total sensory deprivation (including touch) combined with extreme doses of potent drug cocktails and as many as 30 electro-shock sessions a day. They would do this for months on end and, not surprisingly, the people that came out the other end were completely destroyed. Limited flashes of memories from the past, broken mental functions, ptsd induced seizures, loss of the ability to form new memories... One woman had no memories of her life before her mid twenties (excluding her name) and only discovered she had been a guinea pig in these experiments after seeing a newspaper headline regarding a lawsuit against the research facility brought by other survivors. Through a sudden moment of recognition, had a place to start, and was able to reconstruct parts of her life through the administrative and research documentation. She became involved in this "experiment" in college, by seeking medical help for mild depression. Back in those days, when you put yourself in the hands of the mental health industry, you signed away all of your rights. And poof, thirty years of your life are suddenly gone.
In addition to reducing people to quivering masses of jelly, these techniques make the subject extremely malleable and open to suggestion. The CIA was particularly interested in this part.
From these humble beginnings, the techniques evolved into more sophisticated approaches, and became part of the CIAs stock-in-trade. We saw it in the torture techniques used by all the military juntas in Central America in the 70's, in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and we now see it in the photos and accounts of "interrogation" techniques in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Hooding, drugging, shocking, stress positions, terrorization, isolation... In a very short period of custody, American citizen Jose Padilla, the so-called "dirty bomber", has been rendered mentally infantile. He's been completely broken and driven insane.
A former official has been quoted as saying of Guantanamo, "it's not a prison. It's an experiment".
The other big piece of this story is how this way of controlling people though "shock" has been turned into economic and political theory. In short, entire cultures can be controlled in similar ways if given a big enough "shock". Doing this allows powerful financial interests to use policy makers to push through any changes they wish without fear of popular public resistance. The changes that get pushed through are the "free-market" theories of economic guru Milton Friedman, the founder of the "Chicago School" of economic thought and the true father of the neoconservative movement. Real-world "experiments" using his theories began some time in the sixties and continues today. Starting in Iran with the installation of The Shah and moving on to Central America, the NSA and CIA were behind a staggering number of military coups, with control of the population being accomplished through "shocking" violent crackdowns and disappearances. The private sector was explicitly involved as well. Multinational conglomerates like GE, Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon, Halliburton, Bechtel, KBR and MAIN would assist the collapse through elaborate financial shell games. Once the "shock" had been administered, social safety nets could be dismantled, economies could be completely deregulated, natural resources and industry could be sold off to private entities at fire-sale prices, millions could be thrown into abject poverty. Wall Street and the MSM have consistently considered these "successes" as proof of the validity of Friedman's ideas. Adherents to the "Chicago School" of thought include Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and many other notable "Republican" neoconservatives.
As with the physical shock treatment, the techniques of cultural and economic shock have evolved over the years. It continues in the form of physical brute force (as in Tiananmen Square, where students were largely demonstrating the hollowing out of their economic system), but it has also shown up as complete economic collapse (as in Poland and Russia in the early 90's, and Asia in the late 90's, both assisted by the IMF and World Bank), the passive resistance to disaster (as with the Tsunami in Indonesia that opened up the coastline to commercial development, Hurricane Katrina and in my opinion, the attacks of 9/11), and wars of aggression ("shock and awe" anyone?). At a certain point the philosophy changed from one of waiting around for a crisis to take advantage of, to the intentional manufacturing of a crisis, all with the goal of shocking a system into submission. In the US, they have used this technique to introduce changes to our culture that prior to 9/11 would have been unthinkable. Things that previously went against all our beliefs as a country and would have been met with popular resistance if introduced at any time other than during a "crisis". Illegal wiretapping, torture, rendition, the sacking of the public wealth, wars of conquest, the methodical dismantling of the Constitution, privatization of formerly government services including counting the vote and fighting wars, just to name a few.
So, with that background comes the theory.
A couple weeks ago, some random guy walks into a Unitarian Church in the midwest and opens fire, killing a handful of people. He is killed by police, so we can't really discover his motives, but books and magazines at his home suggest he just hates goddamn liberals.
Then last week, some random guy walks into the headquarters of the DNC in Arkansas, and calmly empties his gun into the party chairman. He too is killed by police, so again, it's not really clear why he did it.
It seems oddly coincidental to me how similar the two cases are. Neither of them have particularly colorful backgrounds. Neighbors have expressed surprise at their actions. Their motives are generally unknown, and they're both dead, so we can't ask them.
What if these guys weren't just random, but were in fact people who had been "erased" and sent off with a mission?
It makes me think a little of John Hinkley. Everyone knows that George HW Bush was head of the CIA for a while. Everyone also knows that he was Reagan's Vice President, and would have succeeded Reagan to the presidency if he had died. Many people also know that Reagan and Bush didn't particularly care for each other, and that Bush referred to Reagan's proposals as "voodoo Economics" (he was planning on cutting tax incentives to the oil industry) during the debates when they were both vying for the presidential nomination. Many people also know that John Hinkley was mentally disturbed and had been in and out of institutions through his early adulthood. What most people don't know is that Hinkley's father, John Sr., was close friends with George HW Bush going back to their oil days in Texas. John Sr. backed Bush in his run for the nomination, and was influential in getting him the VP slot. Amusingly enough, Neil Bush and Scott Hinkley (John's brother) had dinner plans on the day Reagan was shot.
And what happened to Hinkley Jr.? Well, funny that. He was found "not guilty by reason of insanity" by the court in DC, which just so happened to be the only venue in the whole country that recognized the insanity defense at that time.
So, what would be the motive for sending a couple random nuts out to kill some random liberals? I don't know, but I suspect they are "softening" us up by planting the seeds of expectation for whatever they have in mind next.
Is some random nut going to shoot Obama? Or will they use special ops and just make it look like a random nut (a la Kennedy)?
That would be quite "shocking", no?
{ This post is too long, But I'm gonna let it slide for now. In future please keep them shorter. SiteMonitor}
Tony @ 58:
'nuff said!
Savage Nation on guard, protecting this country from truth and beauty.
So, when are these three geniuses going to get their own tv show on FOX?
Liberal AND Proud @ 20:
No one in the world has an IQ higher than Rush's weight, however the combined measure of any 5 conservatives' intelligence might be a better comparison.
Pawn @ 51:
It's not the weight/IQ ratio that matters ... it's when Anubis weighs the evil of their soul against a feather ...
Liberal AND Proud @ 39:
Well, his listeners' collective IQ is still less than his weight.
This guy seems to be your typical Republican voter.....another ignorant, brain-dead, Swastika-wearing Meth addict!
Well, if there's one thing we've learned over the last 7 or so years, it's this: if the feds say there was nothing to it, you can bet there was, in fact, something to it.
i look at that guy and can only think of one thing....
ice ice baby
Was Sirhan Sirhan a knucklehead? How about Lee Harvey Oswald? Was James Earl Ray? Now Jack Ruby - THERE was a knucklehead. But these knuckleheads have been known to do some terrible damage.
Antitheist @ 62:
Do tell!
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 63:
How do you ward off a "Super Muslim"? Wear a ring of sausages around your neck?
Ya know. You really can't MAKE this shit up. Calling this woman a moron is giving her too much credit.
Jeff @ 12:
Had this happened at the RNC....shit would hit the fan.
Meth... the Redneck drug of choice.
all three pictured here!
Follow the money.
Lets see?
1st, Unitarian church murders.
2nd, Arkansas Dem Chairman murdered.
Now this.
Yep, the right wingnuts are coming out in force.
Not a credible threat? Since when did the police try to trivialize these kinds of things? The guys had ties to white supremacist groups and one was wearing a swastika ring.. They were found with a high-powered rifle with several scopes and bullet proof vests..... One guy was so anxious to get away from the police he jumped out of a 6th story window...
I'd say that amounts to a little more than "verbal threats..." I dont really understand why the feds would try to downplay it so eagerly.
Liberal AND Proud @ 74:
and it insults morons!
Found in the backseat of their car: The O'Reilly Factor for Kids...
What the hell kinda name is "Tharin Gartrell"?
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 47:
And I did it non-verbally.
Liberal AND Proud @ 74:
make sure they are not beef or turkey.
ROTFLMBBAO!!! :<[)
RancidVenison @ 68:
Ok...I should have said shoe size...or waist measurement...hat size...
I've been to the old Mile High Stadium, but never to Invesco Field. It's an enclosed stadium, so what around there within 750 yards could be an accessible vantage point to get a shot off?
Sounds a bit half-baked so far.