Obama Assassination Plot Foiled
I think a lot of us had a strong suspicion that something like this was coming.
Denver Police, Riot Ready!
Police, the FBI and Secret Service in Denver were investigating the possibility they had foiled an assassination plan against Barack Obama after two men were arrested close to the Democratic convention center in Denver Colorado with two rifles, a high-powered telescopic scope and also in possession of methamphetamine.
The men were arrested in a routine traffic stop for a moving violation.
Tharin Gartrell, 28, was the driver who was initially stopped and charged with suspicion felony possession of a weapon after police found the rifles in his car.
When police escorted Gartrell to his hotel in Denver, another man saw them coming and jumped from four story window and was injured in the fall. That man was also arrested.
So far details are sketchy since Denver police refused to comment on reports that they might have foiled an assassination plot, but have scheduled a press conference for tomorrow, which in and of itself lends credibility to the possibilty that this was an assasination attempt against Obama that was stopped dead in its tracks.
Mr Obama, who will accept the Democratic presidential nomination in Denver on Thursday, has been under Secret Service protection for over a year after receiving credible death threats.
UPDATE:
Tharin Gartrel (left) and Nathan Johnson (right)
Law enforcement sources told CBS station KCNC-TV in Denver that one of the suspects “was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative.”
One of the suspects told authorities they were “going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a … rifle … sighted at 750 yards,” reported KCNC.
Overnight, U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said in a prepared statement that the case was under investigation, but that he was “absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention, or the people of Colorado.”
Obama will be in Denver this week to accept the Democratic nomination for president.
FBI spokeswoman Kathy Wright confirmed the FBI was investigating the reports but declined to elaborate. The Joint Information Center - a command set up by Denver, state and federal authorities to field media inquiries during the Democratic convention - had no immediate comment.
Aurora Police Detective Marcus Dudley said that 28-year-old Tharin Robert Gartrell was arrested early Sunday in a routine traffic stop in the Denver suburb of Aurora. He is being investigated for possible methamphetamine and firearms violations, officials said.
Subsequently, KCNC reports, authorities went to the Cherry Creek Hotel to contact an associate of Gartrell’s, 33-year-old Shawn Robert Adolf.
Adolf, who police said was wanted on numerous warrants, jumped out of a sixth floor window of the Denver area hotel. Law enforcement sources said he broke an ankle in the fall and was captured moments later. Those sources say he was wearing a ring with a swastika, and is thought to have ties to white supremacist organizations.
A third man - an associate of Gartrell and Adolf was also arrested. Nathan Johnson, 32, also taken into custody at a hotel in suburban Denver, told authorities that the other two men “planned to kill Barack Obama at his acceptance speech.”
Johnson, along with his girlfriend, Natasha Gromek, were also under arrest on drug charges.
Law enforcement in Denver was trying to find out whether the reported threats to Obama were valid. “It could also turn out that these were nothing but a bunch of knuckleheads, meth heads,” the U.S. government official said.
Gartrell was being held at the Arapahoe County jail on $50,000 bail on a felony charge of special offender, drug violations. The jail said he did not have a lawyer yet but was due in court Thursday.
U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said in a statement that federal charges were anticipated. Eid did not elaborate, but officials with the FBI; Secret Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Aurora police set a news conference for Tuesday afternoon.
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