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A federal grand jury has indicted an Indian Trail accountant on charges that he threatened to kill U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, who on Thursday night accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for president.
The indictment accuses Jerry Blanchard, 48, of publicly threatening to shoot and kill Obama twice last month. On July 15, Blanchard told two diners at a Waffle House on Pineville-Matthews Road that he planned to kill Obama with a rifle he would buy from Hyatt's Gun Shop on Wilkinson Boulevard, authorities say. On July 28, a witness has said, Blanchard made similar threats at the Crowne Plaza Hotel uptown.
According to court documents, Blanchard has referred to Obama as the Antichrist and said, “If he gets elected, we have a problem.” The Secret Service investigated.
It's against federal law to threaten to kill a presidential candidate. If convicted, Blanchard faces a maximum 5-year sentence or $250,000 fine or both.
