Connecticut man arrested after threatening to kill Obama

[News_Editor]

COVENTRY, CONNECTICUT (BNO NEWS) -- A Connecticut man with a history of mental problems was arrested Wednesday after sending a sinister message to the White House, accusing U.S. President Barack Obama of violating the Bill of Rights and threatening to assassinate him if he did not resign.

Joshua Phillip Klimas, 32, was arrested by the U.S. Secret Service at his residence in Coventry, a town in Tolland County in the northeastern part of Connecticut. Klimas was arrested on a federal criminal complaint that charges him with making threats against the President of the United States and the First Family.

The investigation began after an electronic message was received by the White House on June 1 that made threats against Obama and his family. The message, which was submitted through a web form and identified the sender as "John Q Public," accused Obama of being a "traitor" for actions against the American people and the Constitution.

"You have disgraced many generations of my loved ones with your obsessive need to undermine the system they have put into place to stop tyrants such as you from ceasing control of this country and enslaving its people," the message said. "For these actions against my fellow americans your family and you have been targeted as enemies of the state and will be dealt with with extreme prejudicious if you do not resign from your position and execute yourself for treason."

Klimas, who later admitted to writing the message, wrote he would "not rest" until Obama was either imprisoned or dead. "Let it be known a rising is coming and your family will pay the price for your illegal actions and tyrannical behavior. You are not an american you are a Nazi, and a war monger, but worst of all you are a fraud bankrupting this country. If you do not resign by the end of the year I will kill you!"

In other parts of the message, Klimas wrote he also wished to kill Obama's children and said the president should get them along with the First Lady out of the country "to spare them the wrath of your irresponsible decisions and actions." He also claimed to have built drones to assassinate Obama, but court documents did not suggest Klimas had any weapons.

The IP address behind the electronic message led the Secret Service to an address in Chaplin, where the occupant told special agents on October 10 that Klimas was his roommate at the time of the posting and had access to his Internet connection. He also disclosed that Klimas had threatened him in September, which he reported to the East Hartford Police Department.

Klimas was eventually interviewed on October 15 and admitted sending the threatening message, accusing Obama of "breaking the law" and adding it was 'his duty' to protect the Constitution. He explained having been an Obama supporter until halfway through the president's first term, when Obama "started attacking the Bill of Rights and violating the Oath of His Office."

During questioning by the Secret Service, Klimas became agitated and stated he wrote the threat as a warning. "Someone is going to do what I wrote if he doesn't change," he told the agents, according to the criminal complaint, which said Klimas also admitted to sending around a dozen "angry" messages to both the White House and the website of the U.S. Congress.

The suspect appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford on Wednesday and was ordered to be admitted to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation. The court documents showed Klimas was diagnosed with an illness at the age of 18 and was currently being treated by UConn Mental Health Services. He was also twice committed to a hospital in the past.

Wednesday's arrest came just days before the 50th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The attack took place on November 22, 1963, when 24-year-old sniper Lee Harvey Oswald fired at the presidential motorcade in Dallas, killing Kennedy and injuring Texas Governor John Connally along with a bystander.

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