Feds doubt Colo. men were a credible threat

By: KRISTEN WYATT and LARA JAKES JORDAN - AP

Posted: 8/27/08

DENVER - Authorities investigating a possible plot to assassinate Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention have three men in custody - including one found with high-powered rifles, three fake IDs and two wigs in a truck - but they expressed doubts Tuesday that the suspects had posed a credible threat.

The men arrested Sunday face charges related to drug and gun possession but are not expected to be charged with making threatening statements, conspiracy or other national-security-related crimes, according to a federal law enforcement official in Denver who spoke on condition of anonymity because the charges have not yet been filed.

Obama will become the first black nominee for president by a major party at this week's convention.

One of the men arrested, Nathan Johnson, told a Denver TV station that others involved in the case had made racist statements regarding Obama and had discussed killing him Thursday, the day of his acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High.

"He don't belong in political office. Blacks don't belong in political office. He ought to be shot," Johnson told KCNC-TV Monday in a late-night interview from jail, where he was being held on drug charges.

When asked whether he felt there was a plot to kill Obama, Johnson said, "Looking back at it, I don't want to say yes, but I don't want to say no."

He said he wasn't involved in any plot.

By Tuesday, Johnson was declining media requests for interviews.

He did not speak at a bond hearing where he was given $10,000 bond.

The low bond amount, though, indicated authorities don't believe he was capable of assassinating Obama.

"We're absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention, or the people of Colorado," U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said in a statement.

The assassination investigation was triggered after police in Aurora, a suburb east of Denver, stopped a truck that was swerving erratically around 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

The driver, 28-year-old Tharin Gartrell, had a suspended driver's license, and the truck was rented in the name of another person, said Aurora police Detective Marcus Dudley.

Aurora police Lt. Bob Stef said police saw two scoped rifles, two wigs, camouflage clothing, a bulletproof vest and two walkie-talkies in the truck.

A search also revealed 4.4 grams of what police believed to be methamphetamine and three IDs in other people's names, Stef said.

Johnson, 32, and Shawn Robert Adolf, 33, were arrested in area hotel rooms after interviews with Gartrell.

Adolf jumped out a sixth-story window of a hotel when police arrived Sunday.

He broke his ankle in the fall but tried to run before police found him a short distance away.

Three senior FBI officials said it's unclear whether shooters could have had a clear path to hit the stage from outside the convention hall.