Pennsylvania Newspaper Gets Secret Service Attention

Somebody in the classified ad department either wasn't paying attention or wanted to join the ad buyer in making a statement (from Editor and Publisher):

The publisher of a Pennsylvania newspaper that ran a classified ad appearing to call for the assassination of President Barack Obama said it was "unfortunate" the ad made it into the paper. He also said it drew dozens of phone calls to the paper and a likely visit from federal officials.

Publisher John Elchert of the Times-Observer in Warren also told E&P the ad -- slated to run for three days -- was stopped after appearing once Thursday. "It is unfortunate that it got past our classified people," he said. "My first call [Thursday] was to the police chief and I believe his protocol is to contact the Secret Service."

The ad stated: "May Obama follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley & Kennedy!" All four of those presidents, of course, were assassinated in office. Elchert said when the ad was taken, the staffer who took it "did not make the connection of what tied those presidents together."

So, do you think this was a political statement or a threat against the president, which is a federal crime?

I would tend to go with political statement since no direct action is threatened. People shouldn't write this stuff and newspapers shouldn't publish it, but I don't think this is legally actionable.

The writer didn't say that he was going to make sure Obama went the way of the assassinated presidents, nor did he encourage others to do so. The Secret Service will undoubtedly contact the ad writer and the editor that didn't stop it from running, but I doubt they'll be able to do much beyond that.

For those of you wishing to comment, be advised that this post might get some attention too and unless you want to spend some quality time with the Secret Service, I'd be careful about what you put in the comments.