Massachusetts Man Gets Probation for Threats Against President Barack Obama

MANSFIELD, MA — A Mansfield man who admitted to threatening to kill President Barack Obama was sentenced in U.S. District Court Thursday.

Andrew J. O’Keefe, 29, was sentenced to six months of time served and five years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. He pleaded guilty to making threats against the president on Dec. 15, 2016.

O'Keefe was arrested in May 2015 after he posted a threat on an FBI website stating his intent to kill the president. He also invited U.S. Secret Service agents to come to his apartment in Mansfield.

"I’m planning to kill President Barack Obama, and I’ve got a really good plan. Have the Secret Service give me a visit. I could use some company,” O'Keefe wrote on May 13, according to an affidavit.

Two days after making the threat, FBI investigators appeared at O’Keefe’s apartment in an attempt to interview him. O’Keefe refused to talk to the officers, yelling that “free speech” is not a crime and words have no meaning and are only “myths.”

O'Keefe exited his Mansfield apartment about an hour later and was transported to a psychiatric for a mental evaluation.

A search warrant executed on his residence and vehicle resulted in the seizure of over 100 weapons including swords, double edged knives, hatchets, spears and an air compressed rifle. Additionally, law enforcement seized two laptop computers and a Garmin GPS device, the affidavit said.

O'Keefe was initially charged in Attleboro District Court before he was charged in U.S. District Court.

Image via WHDH/7-News