A Knoxville, Tenn. man admitted on Tuesday that he threatened the lives of Maricopa County, Ariz. sheriff Joe Arpaio and his family because he feared the lawman might undermine Barack Obama by questioning the legitimacy of his birth certificate — his eligibility to serve as president.
KTAR radio in Phoenix reported that Adam Eugene Cox, 33, wrote: “I plan to kill Arpaio first. He will be filled with a thousand bullet holes before the year is out. I promise you this. He won’t fuck with Obama. He will be buried 10 feet under and his whole family will be murdered along with him.”
On Tuesday in a deal with prosecutors in Knox County, Tenn., Cox pleaded guilty to one count of harassment.
According to KNXV-TV15, also in Phoenix, he will serve nearly a year in a “boot camp” program which is similar to probation. A court clerk told the TV station that Cox must also attend anger management counseling and maintain no contact with Arpaio.
In a press release, Arpaio called Cox an “Obama fanatic.”
In August 2011 the tough-on-crime sheriff launched an investigation into the authenticity of Barack Obama’s birth certificate, appointing a five-member “cold case posse” to investigate a local tea party organization’s claim that the document was fraudulent.
On March 1 Arpaio held a press conference in Phoenix, announcing that there was significant evidence to suggest that Obama’s birth certificate was a “computer-generated forgery.” (RELATED: Sheriff Arpaio says Obama birth certificate forged, ‘perpetrators’ must be ‘brought to justice’)
On Wednesday in Arizona, a legislative panel signaled its approval of a new questionnaire for presidential candidates who want to appear on the state’s election-day ballots. The form asks them to swear that they are, among other things, “natural-born U.S. citizens.”
Last year Arizona legislators passed a bill requiring future presidential hopefuls to provide documentary evidence of their Constitutional eligibility to occupy the White House. Republican Jan Brewer vetoed that legislation, calling it “a bridge too far.”