01-21-2009, 01:46 AM
Kathleen Baydala
January 17, 2009
A Wisconsin man was arrested in Mississippi on Friday on charges he made threats on the Internet to assassinate President-elect Barack Obama.
Steven Joseph Christopher, 42, was taken into custody at a home in Brookhaven by U.S. Secret Service agents, Lincoln County sheriff's deputies and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation agents.
Christopher allegedly made the threats Sunday and Thursday in a chat forum on the Web site http://www.alien-earth.org. The site's administrator reported the threats to the Secret Service, according to federal prosecutors.
If convicted, Christopher faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Christopher's online posts contained anti-Semitic views and said he wanted to kill Obama because he considered him "a sacrificial lamb," according to an affidavit filed by Secret Service agent Kelly Adcox.
"Yes, I have decided I will assassinate (sic) Barack Obama. It's really nothing personal about the man ... I know it's for the country's own good that I do this," Christopher wrote, according to the affidavit.
"No, it's not because I'm racist that I will kill Barack, it's because I can no longer allow the Jewish parasites to bully their way into making the American people submit to their evil ways."
In the same post, Christopher asked for help traveling to Washington and obtaining a gun.
Prosecutors say Christopher used the names Stevie, SHR and Trinity on the site, and agents traced the Internet protocol address to a home on California Road in Brookhaven. Internet protocol, or IP, addresses are unique numbers assigned to each computer connected to the Internet.
Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said Christopher had been staying at the house, which belonged to a female friend, for a few months.
"We got the call this (Friday) morning from the Secret Service to help go pick him up," Rushing said. "We got him without incident."
The female homeowner was not charged.
Christopher appeared Friday afternoon in federal court, wearing a faded yellow shirt and shorts. Handcuffs bound his wrists and ankles.
When asked by U.S. Magistrate Judge James Sumner if he suffered any mental illness or took medication for one, Christopher replied, "There is nothing wrong with my mind."
Sumner ordered Christopher to be detained and recommended he be placed in isolation, but Christopher's public defender objected. Christopher's next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/200.../1001/news
January 17, 2009
A Wisconsin man was arrested in Mississippi on Friday on charges he made threats on the Internet to assassinate President-elect Barack Obama.
Steven Joseph Christopher, 42, was taken into custody at a home in Brookhaven by U.S. Secret Service agents, Lincoln County sheriff's deputies and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation agents.
Christopher allegedly made the threats Sunday and Thursday in a chat forum on the Web site http://www.alien-earth.org. The site's administrator reported the threats to the Secret Service, according to federal prosecutors.
If convicted, Christopher faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Christopher's online posts contained anti-Semitic views and said he wanted to kill Obama because he considered him "a sacrificial lamb," according to an affidavit filed by Secret Service agent Kelly Adcox.
"Yes, I have decided I will assassinate (sic) Barack Obama. It's really nothing personal about the man ... I know it's for the country's own good that I do this," Christopher wrote, according to the affidavit.
"No, it's not because I'm racist that I will kill Barack, it's because I can no longer allow the Jewish parasites to bully their way into making the American people submit to their evil ways."
In the same post, Christopher asked for help traveling to Washington and obtaining a gun.
Prosecutors say Christopher used the names Stevie, SHR and Trinity on the site, and agents traced the Internet protocol address to a home on California Road in Brookhaven. Internet protocol, or IP, addresses are unique numbers assigned to each computer connected to the Internet.
Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said Christopher had been staying at the house, which belonged to a female friend, for a few months.
"We got the call this (Friday) morning from the Secret Service to help go pick him up," Rushing said. "We got him without incident."
The female homeowner was not charged.
Christopher appeared Friday afternoon in federal court, wearing a faded yellow shirt and shorts. Handcuffs bound his wrists and ankles.
When asked by U.S. Magistrate Judge James Sumner if he suffered any mental illness or took medication for one, Christopher replied, "There is nothing wrong with my mind."
Sumner ordered Christopher to be detained and recommended he be placed in isolation, but Christopher's public defender objected. Christopher's next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/200.../1001/news
