Ky. man indicted on charge of writing poem that threatened Obama on white supremacist Web site
By APWednesday, March 17, 2010
Indictment says Ky. man threatened Obama in poem
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville man has been indicted on a charge of threatening to kill President Barack Obama in a poem posted on a white supremacist Web site.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Wednesday that 27-year-old Johnny Logan Spencer Jr. is scheduled for arraignment on Friday.
Officials have said the poem was posted in August 2007 but didn’t come to the attention of federal authorities until after Obama’s election in 2008. Officials didn’t learn Spencer’s identity until last month. The poem contains the language “DIE negro DIE.”
Spencer had argued that the poem was protected by the First Amendment, but a federal magistrate judge ruled last month that Spencer could be prosecuted. A call to a phone listing under the name of Spencer’s public defender rang unanswered.
Tags: Barack Obama, Indictments, Kentucky, Louisville, North America, United States
