Another man charged with threatening to kill President Obama

Boston, July 8: A 28-year-old man, whose home was filled with swords, spears and other deadly weapons, has been charged with threatening to kill US President Barack Obama, the second such case that has come to light within a week.

Andrew J O'Keefe from Mansfield, Massachusetts, was charged in the US District Court court here yesterday with threatening to kill Obama in a posting on the FBI's website.

The charge grew out of a May 13, 2015, posting O'Keefe allegedly made on an FBI website tips.fbi.gov. in which he announced plans to murder the US President. O'Keefe was identified as the alleged author because he signed the posting using his Social Security number, according to court records.

In the posting, O'Keefe allegedly wrote, "I'm planning to kill President Barack Obama, and I've got a really good plan. Have the Secret Service give me a visit. I could use some company."

Secret Service agents went to O'Keefe's Mansfield home on May 15 and after speaking to him through the door for about an hour, they persuaded him to step outside. He eventually surrendered peacefully and refused to speak with officers outside the residence, the Boston Globe reported.

"O'Keefe displayed agitated behaviour throughout his encounter with law enforcement and his speech was not appropriate and menacing," Secret Service Special Agent Fred F Mitchell wrote in an affidavit.

O'Keefe, who had been arrested by Mansfield police earlier this year before making the threat against the president, was taken to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Authorities then obtained a search warrant for his residence, according to court records.
"As a result of the search, law enforcement recovered over 100 weapons including swords, double-edged knives, hatchets, spears, and an air compressed rifle," Mitchell wrote. O'Keefe was arrested on state charges related to the weapons in May and is currently being held while those charges are pending, according to court records.

He appeared in US District Court in Boston yesterday where a detention hearing was put on hold until the state case is resolved. O'Keefe, if convicted in federal court, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Last week, a 55-year-old man named Brian D Dutcher who claimed that it was a "Constitutional duty" to kill Obama was charged with threatening to kill the US President. The threat was made by Dutcher last Wednesday as Obama was in Wisconsin.

PTI