Man busted for Bush Internet threat

"I hate Bush, I'll hurt his daughters and I'll kill Bush when he leaves office."

Internet posting by a man with dual Taiwanese and US citizenship

A man with dual Taiwanese and US citizenship who threatened to kill US President George W. Bush in an Internet posting was taken into custody in the US after a joint operation between Taiwanese and US law enforcement agencies.

Last December, the suspect posted a message on his blog saying "I hate Bush, I'll hurt his daughters and I'll kill Bush when he leaves office," a statement by the Criminal Investigation Bureau said.

The suspect had also posted messages on other Web sites threatening to commit other crimes, the statement added.

US Secret Service agents began an investigation into the case after they discovered the messages the suspect had posted.

The Secret Service is an agency under the Department of Homeland Security responsible for protecting the safety of the president.

The investigation revealed that the suspect connected to the Internet from locations in California and Taiwan, the bureau said.

Investigators decided to seek help from Taiwan, it said.

"The US agents came to us in January to ask for help, so we did," bureau official Lai Ching-yuan (賴慶源) said.

The Internet provider's address led law enforcement agents from both countries to a house in a residential area in southern Taiwan, the statement said.

Further joint investigations identified the suspect as a male who lives in California and possesses both dual citizenship.

The suspect posted some of the online messages during a short stay in Taiwan, the bureau added.

"US law enforcement agents took the suspect into custody in California in mid-February," Lai said, adding that the suspect had admitted to the felony and had been prosecuted.

The bureau added that US laws state the suspect might be deprived of his US citizenship if found guilty.

A report in yesterday's Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper) said the suspect was a 24-year-old man surnamed Chiang.

The bureau, however, would not confirm the information.

"We can't reveal his name or other background information per the US agency's request," Lai told the Taipei Times yesterday.