US law agencies fear racist attack on Obama

Macau News.Net
Monday 11th August, 2008

American law enforcement agencies have expressed fear that US presidential candidate Barack Obama will be the target of a violent attack by white supremacists at the Democratic convention in Denver this month.

The concern for Obama's security is because of racist threats made against him by neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups, since the Senator for Illinois emerged as the likely Democratic presidential candidate.

Railton Loy, Grand Wizard of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan International, in an interview on Fox News said: "I'm not going to have to worry about him, because somebody else down south is going to take him out."

He said: "If that man is elected president, he'll be shot sure as hell. The hate would be so deep down south."

John Hickenlooper, the Democrat Mayor of Denver, confirmed that he was aware of threats against Obama from white supremacists and other racist groups.

He added that the Denver Police Department was working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service.

The federal government is providing Denver and St Paul, Minnesota, where the Republicans are staging their convention at the start of next month, with 50 million dollars each to cover the security costs of staging the conventions.

The Denver Police Department will nearly double in size, bringing in an additional 1,500 police officers from communities throughout Colorado and beyond.

National Guard specialists trained to deal with biological, chemical, nuclear and radiological weapons will also be available.

Obama was placed under Secret Service protection in May 2007, the earliest ever for a candidate for the presidency.

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