78-year-old U.S. veteran arrested for threatening President Obama

78-year-old U.S. veteran arrested for threatening President Obama

2010-11-27 00:20:11 GMT+7 (ICT)

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA (BNO NEW) — A 78-year-old U.S. veteran from South Carolina was arrested for threatening to kill President Barack Obama, authorities said Friday.

Michael Stephen Bowden, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, was arrested earlier in the month following repeated threats of killing Obama. According to reports, over a dozen weapons were found in his possession.

Bowden told a nurse at a Veterans Affair clinic in the northwestern region of South Carolina that he was "thinking of traveling to Washington, D.C., to shoot the president because he was not doing enough to help African Americans."

During the operation, police found three handguns and a rifle under Bowden's bed and a dozen more throughout his house, including nine rifles, two shotguns, and a handgun. Police went on to arrest him as he had also tested positive for suicidal tendencies.

Bowden, a former member of the U.S. Navy, New York City Police Department and firefighter, was arrested on November 18 on charges of threatening the President.

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