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Secret Service probe California man's anti-Obama post

December 22, 2011 17:04 IST
An angry California man has used Facebook to make a profane threat against United States President Barack Obama, prompting the Secret Service to launch a probe.

"Assassinate the f****** n***** and his monkey children," Jules Manson, 48, a onetime candidate for the Carson, California, City Council, wrote on Facebook Sunday, the CNN reported on Thursday.

Manson told CNN affiliate KTLA station that he was angry when he wrote the post, "and I just wanted to spew out the most vile, hateful things towards  him. That's all I was doing."

"We are aware of this matter and are taking appropriate follow-up," Secret Service spokesman Max Milien said. He would not comment on the investigation.

Manson was reacting to a post about Obama signing the National Defence Authorisation Act, KTLA said. The act outlines defence spending priorities. Manson, a Libertarian, believes the law tramples citizens' constitutional rights in the name of fighting terror. "There was no substance behind what I said," Manson said. "I'm not the least bit racist at all. I was just trying to muster the most hateful words I could find."

He told KTLA that Secret Service agents showed up at his mobile home and searched the residence, his car and a computer, and were interviewing his friends and relatives. "I was not in the right state of mind," when he made the posting, Manson told the station. "I was very angry when I made those statements." Asked what he has learned, he said, "to think before you talk. ... Never make statements unless you're in the right state of mind."

Manson ran for the city council seat in March and finished last out of five candidates running for two available seats. During the campaign, he had apparently criticised the city's "fascist policies," the report said.

 

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