Friday, August 29, 2008

Federal charges filed against trio in alleged Obama threats


Tharin Gartrell is pictured in this police booking photograph, provided by the Aurora Police Department...

Federal charges were filed Tuesday against three men who allegedly talked of killing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
None of the charges concerned threats against Obama, and U.S. Attorney for Colorado Troy Eid stressed that the three never posed a serious danger to the Illinois senator.
"A bunch of meth heads put together; I don't know what they do," Eid said at a news conference with about 50 reporters from around the world. "There is no credible threat right now, and there was no credible threat."
The three men face charges that include possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of body armor by a violent felon, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.
The three are Shawn Robert Adolf, 33; Tharin Robert Gartrell, 28; and Nathan Dwaine Johnson, 32.
Adolf talked of killing Obama in Denver and during his "inauguration," according to the criminal complaint. It was unclear if "inauguration" referred to Obama's planned acceptance speech for the nomination at Invesco Field on Thursday.
According to the complaint, the three men reportedly referred to Obama with a racial epithet and said that such a person should never live in the White House. They "could not believe how close he (Obama) was to becoming president."
Authorities said the alleged conversation took place at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center - Denver, where Johnson had a room, and the three thought Obama had a room there, too.
Eid said investigators were still looking into whether the men are connected to a white supremacist group

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