# Morons foiled in plot to assassinate Obama **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 26, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314 "2008-08-26T15:27:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 26, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/21 "2008-08-26T18:52:06Z")
Heh, not to make light of the situation, but in the still from the video, Obama looks…disappointed in the meth guy. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/22 "2008-08-26T18:53:42Z")
Has it come out what kind of rifle they were using? It’d be funny if we find out it’s a .30-30 or something. That said, a shot taken at a pres candidate, regardless of the likelihood of a hit, is a big deal. These idiots would’ve likely found the Sec Service (can’t bring myself to write “SS”) awaiting them from any somewhat feasible shooting point. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/23 "2008-08-26T19:02:15Z")
Though it would be interesting to know how many credible threats are interdicted each year. Against any government official. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/24 "2008-08-26T19:12:12Z")
Shawn Robert Adolph? Legal name change or nominative determinism at work? You decide. Was it determined that they were meth heads and/or white supremacists? Because when I first saw the picture of Gartell in another article a few days back, that’s exactly what you kind of expect a white supremacist meth head to look like. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/25 "2008-08-26T19:19:59Z")
I believe the comment I made elsewhere today was “those inbreds don’t look like they could plot a circle jerk let alone an assassination.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/26 "2008-08-26T19:37:36Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] Shawn Robert Adolph? Legal name change or nominative determinism at work? You decide. Was it determined that they were meth heads and/or white supremacists? Because when I first saw the picture of Gartell in another article a few days back, that’s exactly what you kind of expect a white supremacist meth head to look like. [/QUOTE] Well, they found meth in the truck, the guy named Adolph (the dumbass that jumped out a 6th story window) was wearing a swastika and the article said the cops thought they were associated with a white supremacist motorcycle gang. If they weren’t white supremacist meth heads they sure weren’t going out of their way not to _look_ like they were. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/27 "2008-08-26T20:38:14Z")
A thousand yards would require something heavy like a .50. 750 yards is on the edge of hunting rifle territory, but with a good rifle, still possible, I’d say. Still don’t need a custom sniper for it, just a _really good_ hunting rifle and the appropriate skill. A 30-30’d work just fine. Provided it was the right one. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/28 "2008-08-26T20:54:02Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] I don’t think there’s a spot in the city of Denver from where you can see the surface of the stadium. The open end of the stadium is to the south and its all flat and residential in that direction. There are hills and a tall hotel to the north, but they don’t reach above the top of the stadium. I don’t think Obama’s going to spend a lot of time in the streets, so I think he’s pretty safe here. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but wait until they hijack the blimp! ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/29 "2008-08-26T20:58:20Z")
Once again, this is indeed a serious situation not to be made light of, but I’ll just point out that when I first read the thread title, I thought it was “ **Mormons** foiled in plot to assassinate Obama.” Silly me. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/30 "2008-08-26T21:00:33Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Although I’m glad they were caught, it’s hard to take these idiots seriously as any kind of legitimate threat. It sounds to me like a bunch of tweaker morons with big ambitions but no real coherent plan. [/QUOTE] The nice thing about morons is that, while plotting, they tend to foil themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/31 "2008-08-26T21:14:49Z")
[QUOTE=Slypork] Yeah, but wait until they hijack the blimp! [/QUOTE] On September 10, 2001, the Denver Broncos played a Monday Night Football game at home (Denver 31, NY Giants 20). A small airport near me served as the base for the (Goodyear?) blimp. The next morning was 9/11, and all air travel was suspended for a week. I dont think the airport had the equipment to tie it down properly, so it just hovered around for a week. Very wierd sight. Anyway, since this is the base for the blimp, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for white-supremisist meth freaks. And Mormons. ---
**Author:** ![Hirundo82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/919ad9/32.png) [@Hirundo82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirundo82)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/32 "2008-08-26T21:27:06Z")
[QUOTE=jk1245] Has it come out what kind of rifle they were using? It’d be funny if we find out it’s a .30-30 or something. That said, a shot taken at a pres candidate, regardless of the likelihood of a hit, is a big deal. These idiots would’ve likely found the Sec Service (can’t bring myself to write “SS”) awaiting them from any somewhat feasible shooting point. [/QUOTE] The best I can find is [here](http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/national_world&id=6351808), which describes the rifles as “a .270 Remington and a .22 Ruger rifle with scope.” There is no such cartridge as “.270 Remington,” so they must be talking about a Remington-made rifle in a .270 caliber. Remington makes rifles in 2 different [.270 cartridges](http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire_rifles/centerfire_rifles_by_calibers.asp), [.270 Winchester](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.270_Winchester) and [.270 WSM](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.270_Winchester_Short_Magnum). Remington does make a cartridge in the same caliber (7.036 mm), but it is called the [6.8 mm Remington SPC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6.8_mm_Remington_SPC) (naming of firearms cartridges makes no sense whatsoever), so that is another possibility. None of these are particularly known as long-range (\>500 meter) cartridges AFAIK. As far as the Ruger, it may be the ubiquitous [Ruger 10/22](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10/22), one of the most common rifles in .22LR and most certainly not capable of any accuracy at 750 yards, or it may be another Ruger rifle in one of several .22 caliber centerfire cartridges. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/33 "2008-08-26T21:28:01Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] A thousand yards would require something heavy like a .50. 750 yards is on the edge of hunting rifle territory, but with a good rifle, still possible, I’d say. Still don’t need a custom sniper for it, just a _really good_ hunting rifle and the appropriate skill. A 30-30’d work just fine. Provided it was the right one. [/QUOTE] “When I was 19, I did a guy in Laos from a thousand yards. It was a rifle shot in high winds. Maybe eight or ten other guys in the world could have made that shot. Well, see you tomorrow.” ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/34 "2008-08-27T10:05:52Z")
I used to live in that 'hood (Colfax and Federal) and I can say without a doubt there is no place outside the staldium from which to make a shot like that. Invesco is not downtown. Makes me wonder where they got the 750 yard figure from. That being said, if you have a 300 Win Mag or similar with good optics and a rest, 750 yards is no problem. Legend has it that Billy Dixon killed an Indian at Adobie Walls with a Sharps rifle from 1000 to 1500 yards in 1874. Another story I just heard about, and will look into further tomorrow is that a man was arrested for having a couple of rifles in a hotel in Denver. The guy claims he was on his way to South Africa to hunt, which should be easy to check out. This concerns me because I have stayed in hotels in Denver with hunting rifles before, having no idea it was illegal. Lots of folks fly into Denver and spend the night before heading out to elk country, I don’t know what they want people to do with them, leave them in the rental car? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/35 "2008-08-27T11:27:33Z")
It’s easy to laugh at these assholes because they failed. But Gavrilo Princip wasn’t much smarter- he screwed up his first attempt to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand. It was easy to laugh at morons like Mohammed Salameh, because their attempt to blow up the WTC failed so pathetically. Anybody still laughing? Charles Guiteau was a crazy asshole. So was John Hinckley. So was Squeaky Fromme. Crazy assholes sometimes get lucky. And there are more than a few of them out there. Nearly ten percent of our Presidents have been murdered. A bunch more (Reagan, Truman, Ford) barely survived serious assassination attempts. It’s an extremely dangerous job. And as a rule, the crazy assholes probably pose a greater threat than serious, intelligent terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/36 "2008-08-27T14:39:44Z")
[QUOTE=T\_SQUARE] Another story I just heard about, and will look into further tomorrow is that a man was arrested for having a couple of rifles in a hotel in Denver. The guy claims he was on his way to South Africa to hunt, which should be easy to check out. This concerns me because I have stayed in hotels in Denver with hunting rifles before, having no idea it was illegal. Lots of folks fly into Denver and spend the night before heading out to elk country, I don’t know what they want people to do with them, leave them in the rental car? [/QUOTE] From what I’ve heard, the guy had a couple handguns in his luggage that the DPD considered “concealed”, the guy says he “forgot” they were in there and didn’t know the DNC was in town. The last part I can believe, having relatives in Wyoming. Just because he’s from a state right next door doesn’t mean he didn’t actively avoid any news about us damn Greenies (the color of our license plates and meant as an insult). The hotel claims it has no idea why he was walking across their lobby to the front desk with a bunch of luggage. ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/37 "2008-08-27T16:50:27Z")
Hmmm, I’m pretty sure you can’t take handguns to Africa, but I could be wrong about that, and I hear he was not booked at the hotel. Still, if the guy had a plane ticket and a hunt booked, they should give him a pass. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/38 "2008-08-27T17:38:38Z")
[QUOTE=T\_SQUARE] Hmmm, I’m pretty sure you can’t take handguns to Africa, but I could be wrong about that, and I hear he was not booked at the hotel. Still, if the guy had a plane ticket and a hunt booked, they should give him a pass. [/QUOTE] If he really didn’t know the DNC was in town, he might have thought he could just walk in and get a room. There are several bits of the story that don’t make any sense to me though - 1. Even Denver doesn’t have any laws against a hunting rifle in its case, and someone walking into a hotel with luggage and a pretty good reason for having the rifle isn’t the same as a Nazi meth-head B) Is Denver defining “concealed” as “in a case”? I didn’t think “concealed weapon” included a pistol packed away, but I’m fairly sure if someone saw it he’d be in far more trouble, and possibly injured. III) Several news reports mentioned that the may or may not have been registered. I have no idea what this means. There’s no gun registration in Colorado. 2. there is no number 4 C) He forgot he had guns in his luggage? I find that unlikely. I’ve misplaced guns occasionally, but not in my suitcase. VI) Seriously? He planned a trip to Africa, came down and bought new rifles, and didn’t have a hotel already? And he got here without seeing a newspaper, listening to the radio, watching TV, or hearing anyone? Probably just some random guy from Wyoming, living in his own little world, but you really gotta wake up and pay attention to what’s going on around you sometimes. I imagine he’ll be let go with no charges filed just as soon as the convention is over (or if protesters need the jail space). ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/39 "2008-08-27T18:23:11Z")
Sorry for the doubletap, but I just found a couple quotes out of the news report ([404 Not Found | 9news.com](http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=98258&catid=346)) > [@](#): > > He says he had just picked up his rifles from the Sportsman’s Warehouse and had them in a locked gun case when he checked in at the Grand Hyatt. The clerk checking him in noticed the rifle case and called security. and > [@](#): > > Calanchini, who sells drilling tools across Colorado and Wyoming, says he is a frequent guest at the Grand Hyatt. > But the Grand Hyatt General Manager says he was not a registered guest at the hotel. > “We don’t know why he was walking through our hotel,” said General Manager Ed Bucholtz. “We don’t know why he was walking through our hotel”? Maybe to talk to the clerk that was checking him in, as he’s apparently done in the past. Unless they have check-in on the curb, how else is he supposed to get a room? (besides, you know, calling ahead) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314/40 "2008-08-27T18:38:49Z")
If you’re a clerk of a hotel and you see someone who’s not a guest walking around with a gun case at the same time the Democratic National Convention is in town, it only makes sense to call security. If the guy was just checking in, he should have left the guns in the car while he checked in, and then brought them in afterwards. There’s no harm in a clerk being cautious. What if there had _not_ been an innocent explanation? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-foiled-in-plot-to-assassinate-obama/461314.md?page=3)