Dallas, April 30: A Dallas man describing himself as a terrorist threatened to kill US President Barack Obama in an online posting because he was upset about health care reform, according to a criminal complaint.
Brian Dean Miller, 43, faces one count of making threats against the President, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine. He is scheduled for arraignment in federal court on Friday.
His public defender and his mother did not return phone messages on Thursday.
According to a criminal complaint, Miller made the death threats on March 21 on Craigslist under a posting titled “Obama must die”.
The posting said he was following through on a promise to become a terrorist if the federal health care bill passed.
“I am dedicating my life to the death of Obama and every employee of the federal government,” the posting said. It ended with a call to arms: “This is war. Join me. Or don’t. I don’t care. I’m not laying down anymore.”
He said, “Today I become a terrorist.”
In a separate post the same night, Miller essentially dared others to turn him in to the Secret Service, according to the complaint.
He allegedly wrote that others should “feel free to notify them if it helps you sleep better tonight. You should tell them I threatened to kill the president and destroy the US government. Maybe you would like to quote the post as your evidence.”
–PTI