A Maryland man has been charged for allegedly threatening to kill President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama in an explicit email full of obscenities and racial attacks sent to the White House website, the United States Secret Service said Sunday.
Christopher Perkins O'Brien, of Annapolis, was arrested on Thursday and federally charged for threatening bodily harm against the president and the First Family in an Oct. 16 email, according to court documents, which added that interstate communications were also used to make the threat, Reuters reported.
In the email, the 42-year-old called Obama "stupid," further threatening to behead him and physically attack Michelle.
"You stupid n--, between ISIS, homegrown terrorists/beheaders here in the USA, and now your inaction on EBOLA, do you want us all to f-- die?!?!," O'Brien wrote, according to charging documents first reported by The Baltimore Sun.
"I cannot wait to take out your worthless n-- ass, hope to reach out to slash Michelle's throat... You?? I will make a point to behead you, then throw your head into the nearest body of water, as I drive off into Maryland."
A U.S. Secret Service agent was able to trace O'Brien through a phone number that was included in the email, according to court papers filled out by agent Mark Gaskins. After agents questioned him at his Annapolis home, the 42-year-old confessed to sending the email but claimed that he was never intending to carry out his threat since he was very ill.
"He also expressed regret in sending the email and stated that he was embarrassed," the agent wrote.
After being arrested, O'Brien appeared in court Thursday in U.S. district court in Maryland, according to records, and agreed to be detained on a judge's order.
It was not immediately clear what sentence O'Brien faces if convicted of the charges against him. His federal public defender declined to comment on Saturday. Additionally, the White House has not released a statement about the incident.
Back in 2007, O'Brien was convicted of strangling a 32-year-old Maryland City archaeologist, in her Anne Arundel County home. According to trial testimony, "she had invited him to live there after the two met during a stint in a substance abuse rehabilitation center," according to Reuters.
Although initially he was meant to serve a 10-year sentence, it was later reduced to involuntary manslaughter and largely suspended.
