Tag: death threat

Three cases of defendants who threatened the life of political figures came to various stages of resolution in federal courtrooms last week. In one, an upstate New York man was convicted of threatening to kill former president Barack Obama and congresswoman Maxine Waters, the California Democrat. In another, a California man was sentenced for threatening the lives of Obama, former presidents George H.W. A Secret Service spokesman declined to say how many open threats they are investigating against the president and the other individuals the agency protects. He noted that in the weeks, months and years following the 9/11 attacks of 2001, there was a surge in prosecutions of defendants with links to Muslim-majority countries. “These arrests subsided in the Obama years as US strategy changed focus, and Obama shifted focus to extrajudicial assassinations overseas,” Loadenthal tells Quartz. It’s the highest rate in the past two years, but down 8% as compared to 2013. “You go backwards and look at past incidents—problems at work, behavioral problems, does this person have access to firearms?” Agents then assign a risk rating to each person who make a threat that is discovered. That’s when Trump fans began appearing at Harrigan’s San Diego, California home, threatening to kill him and his family. A few days later, the Secret Service showed up.

CNN's Brian Stelter discusses the violent threats he and other journalists are facing as rhetoric against the media is on the rise.