# I heard a coworker make a death threat toward President Obama. What would you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 10, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-heard-a-coworker-make-a-death-threat-toward-president-obama-what-would-you-do/492597 "2009-04-10T01:10:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-heard-a-coworker-make-a-death-threat-toward-president-obama-what-would-you-do/492597/41 "2009-04-12T17:30:10Z")
I would accuse him of not being Christian at all, since what he is saying and doing is the exact opposite of what Jesus would say and do. Who knows? It might make him think. At the very least, it would likely make him think twice about bugging you. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-heard-a-coworker-make-a-death-threat-toward-president-obama-what-would-you-do/492597/42 "2009-04-12T17:59:51Z")
> [@Spin\_Master](#): > > Before I talk about what he said next, let me say that I don’t agree with anything he said and I think he’s despicable person for saying it. He began saying that Barack Obama will bring destruction to America within 3 years and that he needed to be killed. He actually said this. He was completely serious and I am not making this up. > > A couple of minutes after this tirade, I said “Come on, southerners already killed two Presidents.” He replied “And if I had anything to do with it, I’d make it three…I didn’t say that.” He said this while four other people were in the room listening—me included. No one replied to that remark because what he said was obviously illegal. > > What I’m wondering is, what exactly should be done about this? I truly despise this guy and I hate listening to crap like this. If I tell my boss or the secret service, he’ll probably know it’s me. Did I mention that he also knows where I live? He does. > > The most I can think of is to tell as many people as I can around my work place what he said in hopes that they will tell an authority figure. What he said was probably the most stunning thing anyone could possibly say and I think just having people know about this is enough to possibly not have to associate with him anymore. Does this seem feasible to you? > > What would you do in a situation like this? I believe that saying that Obama needed to be killed should be reported to the SS pretty soon. Just because it fits in with your comfort level is no reason NOT to let them know what was said. Next, I wouldn’t tell anybody else about it at the office. They will just think you are obsessing on the freak. Also, next time he was a jerk, I’d ask him how his plans to bump off the President are going, THEN, you could remind him and the others of what he said. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-heard-a-coworker-make-a-death-threat-toward-president-obama-what-would-you-do/492597/43 "2009-04-12T23:46:07Z")
IMHO, you guys are a bunch of tattle-talers. So the conservative office blowhard doesn’t care if Obama dies. Unless you think he’s really unbalanced and capable of such an act, ignore the guy. He probably gets off on the attention. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-heard-a-coworker-make-a-death-threat-toward-president-obama-what-would-you-do/492597/44 "2009-04-13T00:15:11Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > He probably gets off on the attention. The FBI and Secret Service will give him lots of attention. Another poster pointed out in an earlier thread that, according to a source at the Secret Service, Barack Obama has received more death threats than all 43 other Presidents **combined**. So, pardon us if we’re not exactly sanguine about threats to a man some of us worked very hard to elect. A lot of us didn’t like the last President, but how often did you hear leftists make death threats against George Bush? Maybe a few self-styled anarchists at rallies, but the big difference between the disgruntled members of left and right is that the latter tends to be fairly heavily armed. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-heard-a-coworker-make-a-death-threat-toward-president-obama-what-would-you-do/492597/45 "2009-04-13T01:33:02Z")
> [@Yeticus Rex](#): > > Like poker, this game rewards the patient. Next time he brings it up, ask him curiously…“Heh, do you have a website, manifesto, or something to read so I can contemplate your point of view more thoroughly? I’m just curious what your reasoning is here.” That might answer your question on whether this guy is serious or talking crap. I know of a person who was arrested by the FBI for threats on/about the president. He has been in FBI custody for several months now at least. He posted radical Libertarian-esque tirades several places on the Internet – nothing that was too much different from what the OP’s cow-orker said – which was what garnered the attention of the authorities. I have no idea if he is really dangerous but apparently the FBI thought he was enough of a risk to detain. I say, go with your gut, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-heard-a-coworker-make-a-death-threat-toward-president-obama-what-would-you-do/492597/46 "2009-04-13T02:58:22Z")
Okay, you’ve heard many opinions about what to do. Allow me to add a little historical perspective. This year, it has been 200 years since the birth of Abraham Lincoln. There are more pieces on television than usual about him. Many of us can recognize hundreds of facts about him, but I heard one the other day I had not heard before. John Wilkes Booth was in the crowd at President Lincoln’s second inauguration. As he heard the speech, Booth turned to a man next to him, and he said Lincoln had to be killed. The man did not report hearing Booth say it until after Booth killed Lincoln. If I were one of your co-workers who heard what you heard, I would have already called the Secret Service. If he had said the same thing about president George W. Bush, I would have called the Secret Service then, too. I don’t like Mr. Bush at all, but I am an American. You don’t go messing with my president. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-heard-a-coworker-make-a-death-threat-toward-president-obama-what-would-you-do/492597.md?page=2)