US:AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING whether a man arrested in Denver with rifles, ammunition and drugs in his truck made statements threatening Barack Obama insisted yesterday that he never represented a real threat to the Democratic candidate. DENIS STAUNTONreports.
Tharin Gartrell (28) was arrested during a traffic stop on Sunday in the Denver suburb of Aurora.
In his truck, officers found two rifles, including one with a scope, a bulletproof vest, boxes of ammunition, walkie-talkies and methamphetamine.
"We're absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention, or the people of Colorado," federal prosecutor Troy Eid said in a statement.
A few hours after Mr Gartrell's arrest, police detained two other men and a woman believed to have been associated with him. One of the men, Shawn Robert Adolf (33), was hospitalised after he jumped from a sixth-story window when authorities tried to arrest him at a hotel in suburban Glendale.
Police did not immediately confirm reports that those detained belonged to a white supremacist group, but the FBI said Mr Adolf was wearing a ring with a swastika when they arrested him. A Denver CBS television affiliate reported that one of the men arrested, Nathan Johnson (32), told investigators that Mr Adolf and Mr Gartrell planned to assassinate Mr Obama during his acceptance speech at a Denver football stadium tomorrow.
He said Mr Adolf planned to shoot the Democratic candidate from a high vantage point using a rifle with a powerful telescopic lens. In an interview with the CBS affiliate, Mr Johnson said of Mr Obama: "He don't belong in political office. Blacks don't belong in political office. He ought to be shot." When asked if he felt there was a plot to kill the Democratic candidate, Mr Johnson said: "Looking back at it, I don't want to say yes, but I don't want to say no."
Police detective Marcus Dudley said Mr Gartrell was being investigated for methamphetamine and firearms violations, adding that one of the weapons found in the car had been stolen in Kansas. The three men arrested have lengthy criminal records for illegal gun possession, drug dealing and theft. All were being sought on arrest warrants for numerous crimes.
Mr Johnson was convicted in 2006 of identify theft; Mr Gartrell has drug convictions; and Mr Adolf was sentenced to eight years in prison in 1997 for drug and weapons charges. He also served time for assault, forgery and theft.