Racist Threats Against Obama Rise After Election

Authorities Reporting Far More Threats Than Usual

The Associated Press reports that there has been a dramatic spike in the number of threats, including death threats, against President-Elect Obama. Although it is not uncommon for threats against an incoming president to increase in the period succeeding an election, law enforcement officials nationwide are seeing far more than usual. The Secret Service would not comment on how many cases or whether or not they were currently investigating any serious threats, but AP sources note that threat traffic of all types are up all over the country.

The Secret Service is quick to point out that all of the threats are not of a racial nature. Threats range from simple abstract threats of low actualization potential to direct and detailed threats that are far more serious. Still, investigating threats against the life of the President or President-Elect is part of the duty of the Secret Service. It must be pointed out that it is uncertain exactly how dangerous even the most casual threat may be, so each threat must be followed up.

Earlier this week, the Secret Service investigated an incident where a sign attached to a tree in Idaho threatening the life of the President-Elect. The sign offered a "free public hanging" for the newly elected President-Elect.

Editors & Publishers ran an article on November 14 that they will continually update reporting various incidents across the nation of racially motivated threats and criminal acts that involve an Obama element.

The article highlights over a dozen situations where President-Elect Barack Obama was personally threatened, obliquely threatened, or whose name was invoked during the commission of a crime (depending on the respective laws of the various locales, some acts may or may not be considered hate crimes).