"Death to Obama" Sign Holder Detained by Secret Service

Secret Service now involved

By JIM IOVINO

Updated 3:45 PM EST, Thu, Aug 13, 2009

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WHAG-TV

There were signs comparing President Barack Obama to a Nazi and showing him with an Adolf Hitler-style mustache, but federal officials believe another sign referencing the president and his family went too far.

A man who was holding a sign reading "Death to Obama" Wednesday outside a town hall meeting on health care reform in Hagerstown, Md., has been turned over to the Secret Service.

Washington County Sheriff's Capt. Peter Lazich said the sign also read, "Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids."

Lazich said U.S. Secret Service agents took the unidentified 51-year-old man into custody Wednesday afternoon after deputies detained him near the entrance to Hagerstown Community College.

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Obama was not at the meeting held Wednesday by Maryland Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

Barbara Golden, special agent in charge of the agency's Baltimore field office, said Thursday that an investigation is ongoing but declined further comment. A spokesman at the agency's Washington headquarters also declined to discuss the investigation.

Police said there were no other arrests among the nearly 1,000 people, some carrying protest signs, who came to the college for
the meeting or demonstrated off-campus.

Cardin's national communications director, Sue Walitsky, called the incident "unfortunate." She said she was unaware of it until
Thursday morning.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York

First Published: Aug 13, 2009 10:16 AM EST

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0 Comments

{"totSize":6,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331744_53134147","adminTags":null,"views":911,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"\"Death to Obama\" Sign Holder Detained by Secret Service","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1070161,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"13 Aug 2009 18:11:25 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"602483","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Ok, if you disagree with policies that is one thing. Threatening life is quite another. Once you start taking things to personal level attacking appearance, etc. and threatening life, that just makes everyone who is protesting look like a nutjob. \n\nI really disagree with most of what Obama has proposed since becomming president. I think he is spending us in to a hole and not respecting the will of the people. I am against the health care bill and against the cash for clunkers program and am still waiting for him to apologize. I wish he did not win this presidency."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331744_53134147","adminTags":null,"views":911,"createdBy":9213465,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg?t=1248875781749","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"\"Death to Obama\" Sign Holder Detained by Secret Service","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1070161,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"13 Aug 2009 20:23:15 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"Tikigaud","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"604035","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"What amazes me is that many of us have been deceived by Republicans in the past (and no doubt in the far future) telling us one thing while secretly doing something else, holding our hands in friendship while secretly plotting with the thief to bash us over the head and leave us for dead and folks have swallowed it, even defended the blaggart. Now someone, a Democrat, comes along and says I'm gonna help you but you have to put in some effort, it may hurt but I'm letting you know so you are prepared. And you threaten his life and that of his family. Obama is neither a God or purports to be. He's a man with a plan just like Bush Jr., just like Nixon. You stood behind them why can't you stand behind Obama. No one is gonna have a plan that everyone will unanimously agree with so we have to go with the greater good. Before agreeing with someone on television you've never met that someone you don't like anyway is Hitler or a Socialist, pick up a book and find out for yourself what those terms actually mean. Until you come up with a better plan and stop threatening someone's life, sit down and shut up."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331744_53134147","adminTags":null,"views":911,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"\"Death to Obama\" Sign Holder Detained by Secret Service","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1070161,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"13 Aug 2009 22:21:10 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"605195","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Ummmm... Not going to sit down and shut up... Sounds like you need to be reminded this is America and we have free speech. Sounds like you are from a foreign country. Go back if you don't like it. Obama is threatening MY quality of life. I don't want his health care plan. He is FORCING it on me. I don't want to agree or disagree. I just want to be left alone and for government to stay out of my personal affairs. Not happy with Obama's plan.... any of it!"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331744_53134147","adminTags":null,"views":911,"createdBy":10121163,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"\"Death to Obama\" Sign Holder Detained by Secret Service","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1070161,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"14 Aug 2009 01:16:13 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"JustinAndrews","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"606325","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"These Threats are finally being taken seriously. Now only if The famous people who make these threats were treated like this man.\n\nI am against the healthcare thing being proposed, but the law is the law, and i'm happy it is finally being enforced"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331744_53134147","adminTags":null,"views":911,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"\"Death to Obama\" Sign Holder Detained by Secret Service","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1070161,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"14 Aug 2009 01:41:18 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"606547","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"I'm glad you realize that we as the people have the power of free speech and that should be respected by everyone, however this right does not extend to death threats, that includes every person no matter how low down they may be. Before you flash your personal copy of the amendments in everyone's faces you should sit down and shut up for a second, maybe read about what happened, and realize that even the people who put Hitler-stashes on pictures of Obama were not arrested, only the man who made a death threat to 4 individuals who happen to live in the white house was."}],"error":"","totPages":2}