page_title: Barack Obama assassination plot in Denver
section_title: Histories of alleged plotters
hierarchical_section_title: Barack Obama assassination plot in Denver / Histories of alleged plotters
caption_attribution_description: English: 19th Street side of the U.S. Customhouse in Denver, Colorado, United States, which occupies the block surrounded by 19th, 20th, Stout, and California Streets. Aside from its function as a custom house, it is also the location of the local federal bankruptcy court. Built in 1931, the Italian Renaissance Revival building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
context_page_description: The Barack Obama assassination plot in Denver refers to an alleged plot by Shawn Robert Adolf, Tharin Robert Gartrell and Nathan Dwaine Johnson to assassinate Barack Obama, then the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nominee. The trio allegedly planned to shoot Senator Obama with a high-powered rifle during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
  The alleged motive for the attempted assassination was a white supremacist belief that an African American should not be elected President of the United States. Gartrell was arrested August 24, 2008, and found to be in possession of rifles and other weaponry; Adolf and Johnson were arrested shortly thereafter. In a televised interview after his arrest, Johnson identified Adolf as the man who allegedly hatched the assassination plot and planned to be the shooter.
  Although their suspected white supremacist affiliations led federal authorities to investigate possible ties to a larger group, authorities later downplayed the trio as drug addicts who had little chance of carrying out the plot. The three men were charged with drug and weapons charges, but did not face federal charges of threatening a presidential candidate.
context_section_description: After their arrest, law enforcement officials investigated whether Adolf, Gartrell and Johnson were linked to vandalism shootings that targeted at least two federal buildings in Denver two weeks prior to their arrest. Windows were shot at the U.S. Custom House and the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station in Denver's downtown Federal District. Authorities were also studying whether a bullet recovered from a Hertz rental car shot on August 15 could have matched the guns seized from the men.
  Adolf, a Greeley, Colorado resident, was the only one of the three alleged plotters with any prior history of violence. Adolf was arrested on May 14, 1997, for his involvement in a theft of $350,000-worth of construction equipment, materials and vehicles in Greeley. He served prison time starting in 1997 on drug-related charges, and faced two third-degree assault charges in 2001. At the time of his arrest for the alleged assassination plot, eight outstanding warrants had been issued for him in response various crimes committed around Colorado, including one for skipping out on a $1 million bond. He was on the most-wanted list of the Weld County, Colorado sheriff's department for burglary, larceny, aggravated motor vehicle theft and other prior charges. Adolf possessed a handcuff key on one hand and a swastika ring on the other when he was arrested for the alleged assassination plot. His criminal history also included forgery, drug and weapon charges. Vicki Harbert, an investigator with the Weld County Sheriff's Department, had been pursuing Adolf since 2006 and feared he would eventually kill a police officer. Harbert said of Adolf after his 2008 arrest, "I've been a cop for 18 years and he was not your typical bad guy."
  Tharin Gartrell is a professional club-music disc jockey, originally from Lincoln County, Nevada. He lived in Pioche, Nevada until the 1990s, when he moved to another rural Nevada town with his father, Carl "Flash" Gartrell, a journeyman ranch hand and heavy equipment operator. Carl Gartrell has a history of multiple drug- and alcohol-related arrests and, in August 2008, a warrant was issued for his arrest in Lincoln County. Tharin Gartrell, who had no known address at the time of his arrest, was run over by a truck as a child and, according to Lincoln County, Nevada Sheriff Kerry Lee, "It was absolutely amazing that he wasn't hurt badly." Gartrell experienced significant disciplinary action problems in high school and was told he would have to enroll in an alternative school, but never did. Friends said Gartrell had been on probation for drugs and had not committed any crimes for several years, but fell off the wagon and started spending time with Adolf in mid-August 2008. Like Adolf, Gartrell and Johnson had a criminal history involving burglary, forgery, drug and weapon charges. Tharin is registered with the Republican Party in Colorado.
caption: Adolf, Gartrell and Johnson were linked to vandalism shootings, one of which targeted the U.S. Custom House in Denver.
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