A New York man allegedly found sitting in a car with a loaded rifle, machete and a container of gasoline was charged on Friday with threatening to kill George W. Bush after professing a romantic interest in the former president’s oldest daughter, prosecutors said.
Benjamin Smith, 44, of upstate New York was arrested in Manhattan by the U.S. Secret Service, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.
‘Bush will get his,’ Smith screamed as he was taken into custody, according to the complaint.
Later, when asked about his marital status, he told agents he was divorced and ‘working on a relationship with Barbara Bush.’
At a preliminary hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Griswold told U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman the government believes Smith was referring to the former president’s daughter and not Bush’s mother, who shares the same name.
It is a crime under federal law to threaten a current or former president.
On Thursday, the man’s mother called police to report she had found a threatening note in the home she shares with her son and that a rifle was also missing, the complaint said.
‘I’m going to work for George W. Bush and the Pentagon,’ the note said, according to the government. ‘I have to slay a dragon and then Barbara Bush is mine.’
