Mich. Letters Taunt Obama; Racist Vandals Strike Sign

Secret Service investigates mail threatening Dem, supporters
By Ambreen Ali,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 17, 2008 3:53 PM CDT
Mich. Letters Taunt Obama; Racist Vandals Strike Sign
The threatening letters included an article on Michelle Obama's thesis and a photo of the couple.   (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

The Secret Service is investigating anti-Obama letters sent to a local Democratic office and a business in south-central Michigan, the AP reports, even as authorities in Pittsfield Township, about 40 miles west of Detroit, say an Obama billboard was defaced with swastikas and Klan symbols overnight. One letter declares a wish Obama “gets a bullet,” while the other threatens a business supporting the campaign.

A kindergarten teacher notified police after seeing the privately owned billboard—with the words "KKK," "Rebel," swastikas and racial slurs spray-painted in black—during her morning commute, the Ann Arbor News notes. State police have called in tracking dogs and are investigating what the Obama campaign says is the first large-scale act of racist vandalism. (More Barack Obama stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X