Remember the clean cut black guy who toted an AR-15 rifle to an Arizona rally where Barack Obama was set to speak on healthcare? Well, he’s an extreme right-wing nut who, like his pastor, wants Obama to die.
Chris Broughton, 30, says he “concurs” with his fiery fundamentalist preacher who prayed for the president “to die and go to hell.” In an interview with TPMuckraker blog, pastor Steven Anderson (inset) said he would prefer Obama to die of natural causes such as brain cancer like Ted Kennedy.
“I don’t want him to be a martyr, we don’t need another holiday,” said Anderson.
In an interview with ABC 15 outside the storefront Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, Broughton agreed with his pastor, saying “I concur, I think we’d be better off if God would send [Obama] where he’s going now instead of later. [Obama] is destroying our country.”
When asked by a reporter if he was condoning violence against Obama, Broughton said: “I’m not going to answer that question directly. I don’t care how God does it, I’m not going into further detail than that. It would be better now than later.”
Later that same day, Broughton showed up at a healthcare rally where Obama was scheduled to speak carrying an AR-15 assault rifle slung over his shoulder.
Amazingly, the Secret Service didn’t respond to the threats until a reporter inquired about Anderson and Broughton.
“We are aware of the situation and appropriate follow up will be conducted,” said a Secret Service spokesman.
CNN reports that the Secret Service “visited” the pastor’s storefront church. Meanwhile, neither Anderson nor Broughton have been arrested or detained by the Secret Service.
After speaking with the Secret Service, pastor Anderson told TPMMuckraker blog: “To be honest with you, I have prayed for Obama to die. I’m not the only one, I’m just the only one with the spine to say it.”
