Despite the fact that there has never been an assassination attempt at a persidental inauguration, threats against Obama have been higher than any other president-elect in American history so some precautions are being take. They range from thousands of video cameras, sharpshooters, air patrols, searches by machines and security personnel, undercover officers, and bomb sniffing dogs to countersnipers who are trained to hit a target the size of a teacup saucer from 1,000 yards away.
So for those who are going on the Washington trip watch out for suspicious activity and remember...you can run but you can't hide.
15 comments:
As someone going on the Washington trip, thanks for the, ahem, comforting mention. I'm going to feel so, um, safe amongst all of the mayhem.
Although, quite frankly, that's assuming that I don't find myself on the "No Fly List" when I get to the airport. *sigh* It's going to be a LONG inauguration week...
This makes me incredibly angry. In this day and age? Really? People cannot get over change, the fact that maybe another individual of a different race is capable of the same work as theirs? Come on.
Lincoln-freed the slaves: Shot in the back of the head
Martin Luther King- led a peaceful revolution for equality: shot at a hotel
Gandhi- nonviolent protest to protect the indian people: shot while taking a walk
Do all people who work for peace, equality, and justice have to be martyrs? I hope not.
And I guess I am part of a growing statistic.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/129063.asp
I searched "assasination obama", which this report says most people are searching in fear. But I have a feeling this is far from true. All i know is that this isn't over until he get inaugurated. And even then it isnt over.
When will this country learn...
Yeah it is very likely that there will at least several assasination attempts because after all, if you watch some of the videos of Republican supporters, you see how much they hate him. They think he is like an arab and terrorist and they think that the country is in danger or something with him in office but it is good that they are taking neccessary precautions. Although, could you imaging how bad it wuold be if Obama actually was assasined? I mean, that would probably ruin or international image given how many countries like the idea of Obama as president and lets not forget all the black people who would be upset. There would be HUGE riots all over the US and then the country would be in chaos. The republican party probably would not do too well either afterward
Wow, four million people is so large compared to how many people usually go to the inauguration. I read that the record is the 1.2 million people who attended inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson. I am glad that they are taking so many precautions, and I hope that everyone is safe.
I'm a little worried but with all of the security that is going to be there I am crossing my fingers that nothing will happen. But my mom did this big long search for someone in our family that lives in Washington that I can go to if something goes wrong. So if anything happens I know I will be safe at my uncle's second cousin's wife's house... yikes.
But I don't think that it’s the Republicans that we have to watch out for because although I don't agree with their views I don't think that they are stupid. It's the crazy people I'm worried about. Jesse's right, there are a lot of people out there who hate Obama and are just the right amount of crazy to try and kill him.
It makes me angry too but I sadly have come to accept that there will always be people in this world who will not understand good when they see it.
In regards to the increased security in Washington, I can't say that i am surprised. Not only do they have to protect the president-elect, Obama, but they also have to ensure the safety of the four million people that will be attending this historic inauguration. Also, considering the fact that there already have been assasination attempts on Obama, I'm sure there are people out there who will go through great lengths to ensure that Obama does not become President come inaguration day. It amazes me that despite everything that our country has done to ensure equality, people are still hated because of the color of their skin.
Ever since Senator Obama was a possible canidate for president i think the question came into many peoples minds, "Theres going to be a good sized faction of people who are going to be outraged (in a violent manner) is he going to be, safe enough?" Granted his security will be ridiculous but its still puts fear in the back of my head that some how some way someone can get a bomb in there, or a couple people could slip guns through the crowd. Glad to know that there is that many precautions for his inaguration
Honestly I was nervous when he was making his victory speech after he was elected. There were so many tall buildings out in front of him and I just get nervous. I doubt anything bad with happen at the Inauguration because of all the security they have set up. On a lighter note I found (http://www.obamainauguration2009.com/), where people can sign up for trips to the inauguration. If 4 million people isn't enough...but this site is not going to give anyone a trip to the inauguration. The Inaugural Committee stated that tickets will not be distributed to Congressional offices until the week before the inauguration. Plus you have to go pick up the tickets yourself. So it will be hard to be apart of the 4 million already that are going to witness the historic event in person.
For a long time now, all i've heard is "if Obama gets elected, he's going to be shot," so I'm not surprised he's had the most threats. He is the first half-black president, so naturally there are going to be those racist people who can't stand to have him in office. Although I personally wasn't the biggest Obama fan, I do NOT want to see him killed. I think it's a really good idea to have a lot of security. I am nervous for him, because 4 million people is enough to have a few potential assasins. That is an incredibly large turnout though, which is great. Hopefully all goes well...
I am going to have to agree with Alex on this one. Why can't people accept that America is not going to plummet into the depths of hell or become a total anarchy once Obama is inaugurated?
Speculation as to whether or not Obama was going to be the target of frequent attacks is inherent. It is just something that has to be accounted for. No matter how angry it may make you, you should feel a little bit of relief knowing that there are actually people in the world willing to protect this change. This is not an issue that reflects going to a political establishment and raising concern over a bill-- the first African-American president was elected and will be sworn into office. As amazing as it is, there are many, many crazy people out there that do not want this to happen and will unfortunately make their best attempts at stopping it from happening.
During the civil rights movement, African-Americans had to struggle to fight for the change they wanted WITHOUT the protection Obama is going to have so before you go off believing that something will actually happen, remember how much protection Obama is going to have and remember what revolutionary leaders had to undertake to make change happen. Martin Luther King was the driving power to end segregation during the civil rights movement. Do you think he had highly trained military officials guarding him from all vantage points? If anything, those were the people that were against his struggle, and see how far he went. Relative to those previous leaders, this should be a walk in the park for Obama.
But can you imagine if he WAS shot?
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Pandemonium and chaos in the streets. His death would probably lead to more death and destruction. His becoming president is making history. His getting shot would make the killer remembered... forever. There are probably enough crazy people out there who'd be willing to do it. Would Biden replace him? The nation's African American population... their reactions would...not be pleasant. The massive turnout at the inauguration would actually probably make it..well.. easier for any potential assassins. Larger crowd, easier to meld in, etc etc etc. The nation and even the world will be temporarily thrown into chaos. (Ok, maybe not the world...) It's not the republicans or anything like that that who would be killing Obama. It's the CrAzY people. The extremists. The racists. It's really truly unfortunate. You;d think that after all this time our nation would have learned a little something or improved itself. Maybe this is the next step. Whatever happens to Obama, shot or not (ha it rhymes :P), is going to define our nation's future.
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Lets hope not.
I would have never throught that so many people would go to an inauguration. Having that many people there is only going to make it harder for security.
OLEG KROLL
I am fairly confident that Obama will be safe simply because of the fact that he has so much security surrounding him. i have honestly never heard of soo much security for any person or event. and as for Alex votos comment i can compleately relate this entire situation makes me angry too, but honestly atleast we are moving away from pigheadedness. it seems like everyone that fights for equality gets shot, but atleast their deaths did not come in veign. our nation fought for equality just 40 years ago in the red hot summers, and know we have an african american president. but im going too keep my fingers crossed and hope that everything goes well.
Oleg kroll
ok im using my friends sisters screen name because i forgot mine
I have to say that I don't think Obama will get shot by any member of the KKK or another racist group. The police know the headquarters of almost all of these organizations and keep close tabs on them. I don't think the fact that Obama is black will probe any right-minded person to kill him, even if they are extremely racist. Where we have problems with assassination attempts is in the mentally insane. The modern assassination attempts have been made by people who are not right in the mind, to put it kindly, and I think those are the kind of people we need to be on the look out for, not racist people or anti-Moslem (even though Obama isn't Moslem) weirdos.
But whatever the case, I hope everyopne is safe who is going to the inauguration.
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