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Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, has been the target of several assassination attempts and alleged plots since he first became a presidential candidate in 2007. Secret Service protection for Obama began after the Senator received a death threat in 2007, while serving as the junior Senator of Illinois and running for president. This marked the earliest time a candidate received such protection before being nominated. Security was increased early for Barack Obama due to fears of possible assassination attempts by white supremacist or other racist groups or individuals against the first African American major party presidential nominee.〔〔 Some of the threats have been extended to members of Obama's family, including First Lady Michelle Obama.〔〔〔〔 Obama and his officials have generally declined to discuss death threats against him since entering the presidential race.〔〔 While some commentators have suggested the unusually high amount of death threats surrounding Obama are at least partially tied to the use of racist imagery and words used by some of Obama's critics to describe the president,〔 in 2009 the Secret Service stated that the volume of threats against Obama was "comparable to that under George W. Bush and Bill Clinton."〔("Secret Service: No more threats against Obama than Bush, Clinton" ), CNN, December 4th, 2009"; Glenn Thrush, ("Secret Service: Threat level against Obama no greater than under Bush, Clinton" ), ''Politico'', December 3, 2009. Accessed November 26, 2012.〕 ==2008== ;North Carolina Waffle House threats Jerry Blanchard, an accountant from Charlotte, North Carolina, was indicted for threatening to kill Obama during a July 15, 2008, breakfast at a Charlotte Waffle House. Two customers said Blanchard told them, "Obama and his wife are never going to make it to the White House. He needs to be taken out and I can do it in a heartbeat."〔 The customers contacted the Secret Service, who questioned Blanchard. He denied making the threats, but allegedly told the Secret Service agents he believed Obama was the Antichrist prophesied in the Bible.〔〔 The Secret Service later got a second call from an employee of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Charlotte, where Blanchard was overheard in the lobby restroom saying into his cell phone, "I'll get a sniper rifle and take care of it myself. Somebody's got to do it ... We both know Obama is the anti-Christ."〔 Blanchard had claimed he would buy a sniper rifle and pistol from the Hyatt Gun Shop in Charlotte. The gun shop owner said Blanchard has visited the store but did not buy any weapons.〔 Blanchard was placed into custody on felony charges of making threats against a major candidate for president, and a psychiatric evaluation was ordered. It was questioned how much evidence existed that he planned to actually go through with an assassination attempt;〔〔 later, according to a federal affidavit, there was no proof of any furtherance of his crime.〔 In June 2009, Blanchard was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for making the threats. He was also fined $3,000 and ordered to be under supervised release for three years following his prison term. ;Miami bail-bondsman training threats Raymond H. Geisel was charged with making threatening statements against Obama during a bail-bonds training class on July 31, 2008, in Miami, Florida.〔 During the course, Geisel referred to Obama with a racial epithet and said, "If he gets elected, I'll assassinate him myself." Geisel also threatened to put a bullet in the head of then-President Bush, although Geisel later claimed he was joking. In his hotel room, authorities found ammunition, body armor, a combat-style hatchet, tear gas, a loaded 9 mm handgun and four loaded magazines. Geisel said he collected firearms, and was only using the gun for his bail-bonds course. Geisel remained in custody for a month.〔〔 He later plead "not guilty" on August 20, 2008. With trial date set for January 2009, in December 2008 there was discussion of a plea agreement for Geisel who faced up to thirty years in prison if convicted on all four counts brought against him. In December 2009, Geisel was convicted on weapons charges and served three years' supervised probation stemming from that conviction. The threat charges were dropped as part of his plea agreement. ;Assassination plot in Denver (詳細はDemocratic Party presidential nominee, during his acceptance speech on the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Cousins Tharin Gartrell and Shawn Adolf, and their friend Nathan Johnson, allegedly came to Denver specifically to kill Obama, and discussed in their hotel room how they could assassinate him. On August 24, 2008, Gartrell was arrested when police found his truck filled with weapons and narcotics. Johnson and Adolf were arrested shortly thereafter and, during a televised interview, Johnson later indicated Adolf was the one who planned the alleged threat.〔 Authorities later downplayed the threats and indicated the trio had little chance of successfully killing Obama.〔 The three men were charged with drug and weapons charges and sentenced, but did not face federal charges of threatening a presidential candidate. ;Assassination plot in Tennessee (詳細はwhite supremacist beliefs, allegedly planned a murder spree of 88 African Americans in Tennessee, many of whom were to be young students at an unidentified, predominantly African-American school. They allegedly planned to end the spree by driving their vehicle toward Barack Obama as fast as they could and shooting at him from the windows. The two men were arrested on October 22, 2008, after they bragged to their friends about firing shots at a church in Brownsville, Tennessee.〔 Schlesselman and Cowart were in possession of several guns during their arrest, and they allegedly told police they intended to rob a firearms dealer and other stores to secure more weapons for the attack. Both plotters pleaded guilty to various federal charges; Judge J. Daniel Breen of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee sentenced Schlesselman to 10 years imprisonment on April 15, 2010, and Cowart to 14 years in prison on October 22, 2010. ;Scranton "Kill him" threat In October 2008, it was widely reported that someone yelled "Kill him!" at a Scranton, Pennsylvania, Sarah Palin rally when Obama's name was mentioned. The Secret Service denied this claim, but a ''Scranton Times-Tribune'' editor said, "We stand by the story. The facts reported are true and that’s really all there is." Also, MSNBC clips of McCain rallies, while unclear, appear to show two similar incidents.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw3o3y77MaA )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Assassination threats against Barack Obama」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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