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Race gang cleared of plot to kill Obama
Paul Thompson, Evening Standard27 Aug 2008
Three men held in a suspected race hate plot to kill Barack Obama will not face any charges relating to an attempt on his life.
The authorities in Denver said that even though they had high-powered sniper rifles and were racists who said they wanted to kill Mr Obama to stop him becoming President, the case did not meet the legal standard to charge the men with a federal offence.
Tharin Gartrell, 28, Shawn Adolf, 33, and Dwaine Johnson, 32, are to face charges of possessing firearms and the drug methamphetamine following their arrest.
The US Attorney for Denver-Troy Eid, said that while investigators were keeping an "open mind" an intensive investigation had found no evidence of a credible plan to kill Mr Obama as he accepted the Democratic nomination at Denver's Invesco football stadium tomorrow.
"There is a difference between a true threat and the reported racist rantings of drug abusers," said Mr Eid. "This involved a gang of meth-heads who were all impaired at the time."
The three men were seized at the weekend and found to be in possession of sniper rifles, walkie talkies and camouflage clothing.
According to an arrest warrant "Adolf said that he wanted to kill Obama and additionally stated that he would specifically use a sniper rifle and high powered scope, and find high ground to set up and shoot Obama."
An unnamed female witness who drove to Denver with Adolf told Colorado State Patrol officers about possible threats against Mr Obama.
This, combined with the arrest of Gartrell for suspected drink-driving, led to a police swoop on two hotel rooms where Johnson and Adolf were staying.
The witness said Adolf and Gartrell had talked "negatively" about Mr Obama using racial epithets.
She believed they were "white supremacists." She said they "could not believe how close he was to becoming President".
FBI agents called to investigate the threat soon established that it was not credible.
An FBI source said: "Even though Gartrell and Adolf had high-powered rifles they would not have been in a position to carry out an assassination.
"They could have not reached the intended target. These were just a couple of rednecks thinking out loud what they'd like to do."
