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U.S. attorney: 3 men arrested posed no threat to Obama

By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 26, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Tharin Robert Gartrell

Tharin Robert Gartrell

Nathan Johnson

Nathan Johnson

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The U.S. attorney for Colorado said authorities are "absolutely confident" three men arrested on weapons and drug charges posed no threat to presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Aurora police held a news conference Monday to announce the arrests and said that officers seized a bulletproof vest, two rifles - one of which was stolen; another with a hunting scope - plus ammunition, drugs and walkie-talkies.

Police Detective Marcus Dudley would not comment on reports of a plot, but said the case had "federal implications."

A CBS4 News report Monday indicated that authorities had arrested the men in connection with a possible plot to kill Obama at his Thursday night acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.

But U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said in a statement: "We're aware of the matter discussed tonight by the Aurora Police Department. We can say this: We're absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention, or the people of Colorado."

Dudley said the case stemmed from a drunken driving arrest on Sunday morning. He said the men arrested were:

* Tharin Robert Gartrell, 28, address unknown. Gartrell was driving erratically in a rented 2008 Dodge Ram truck that was not registered in his name, police said. A cache of guns, ammunition, drugs and other equipment was found in the truck.

* Nathan Johnson, 32. About three hours after Gartrell's arrest, police from Aurora, Denver and Greenwood Village, along with federal agents, arrested Johnson at a hotel near Interstate 25 and Belleview Avenue. He is being held on drug charges in Denver.

* Shawn Robert Adolf, 33. Police from Aurora, Denver and Glendale and federal agents arrested Adolf at the Cherry Creek Hotel, 600 S. Colorado Blvd. in Glendale, around 5 a.m. Sunday after he jumped from a sixth-floor window.

Adolf was injured when he fell four stories onto the second-floor roof of the hotel kitchen. He then jumped again onto the ground around the hotel, where police caught him a short time later. Johnson was hospitalized with unspecified injuries from his fall.

He is being held on seven outstanding warrants with bonds totaling $1 million. Dudley said he did not know the details on those warrants.

Staff writers Judi Villa and April M. Washington and Brian Maass of CBS4 News contributed to this report.

Comments

  • August 26, 2008

    4:10 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Fedfunguscreme writes:

    Political nonsense designed to get more media attention and favor for Barack Obama. It is perfectly legal to threaten to kill someone, you just aren't allowed to actually kill someone. Federal judge Arthur J. Gonzalez established clear precedent that death threats are legal when he presided over the WorldCom bankruptcy case and a death threat was admitted by a lawyer against a whistle-blower to hedge fund corruption. Eliot Spitzer, at the time the Attorney General for New York State when even further as to determine that delivering a death threat is ethical and falls within the bounds of the NY Lawyers Code. [see http://jaactv.com/330/site/content/vi... ] These Obama detractors are certainly not moral or nice, but please lets stop abusing them by pretending that what they are doing is illegal.