Security threats to Obama alarmingly higher than other presidents-elect

Washington: Threats against a new president historically spike right after an election, but from Maine to Idaho, law enforcement officials are seeing more against Barack Obama than ever before.

The Secret Service would not comment or provide the number of cases they are investigating. But since the November 4 election, law enforcement officials have seen more potentially threatening writings, Internet postings and other activity directed at Obama than has been seen with any past president-elect, said officials aware of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue of a president's security is so sensitive.

Earlier this week, the Secret Service looked into the case of a sign posted on a tree in Vay, Idaho, with Obama's name and the offer of a "free public hanging."

Racist graffiti

In North Carolina, civil rights officials complained of threatening racist graffiti targeting Obama found in a tunnel near the North Carolina State University campus.

And in a Maine convenience store, a journalist saw a sign inviting customers to join a betting pool on when Obama might fall victim to an assassin.

The sign solicited $1 (Dh3.67) entries into "The Osama Obama Shotgun Pool," saying the money would go to the person picking the date closest to when Obama would be attacked. "Let's hope we have a winner," said the sign, since taken down.

In the security world, anything "new" can trigger hostility, said Joseph Funk, a former Secret Service agent-turned security consultant who oversaw a private protection detail for Obama before the Secret Service began guarding the candidate in early 2007.

Obama, of course, will be the country's first black president, and Funk said that new element, not just race itself, was probably responsible for a spike in anti-Obama postings. "Anytime you're going to have something that's new, you're going to have increased chatter," he said. The Secret Service has also cautioned the public not to assume that any threats against Obama are due to racism.