The mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who was arrested last week for interrupting a speech by Laura Bush is being investigated by the Secret Service for threatening remarks she made about President George W. Bush, a Secret Service official confirmed on Wednesday.
The woman, Sue Niederer, 55, who lives in Hopewell, New Jersey., made the comments on a Web site, according to the Secret Service official, who was reached by telephone in Washington. He referred further questions to Special Agent Tony Colgary in the Trenton office of the Secret Service, who did not respond to messages.
Colgary, however, confirmed the investigation to The Trenton Times.
The federal officials are apparently investigating comments made by Niederer in May on the Web site counterpunch.org, a political newsletter. In the Web postings, she is quoted as saying she "wanted to rip the president's head off" and "shoot him in the groined area." It is a federal crime to threaten the president, though civil liberties groups are expected to argue the case on free speech grounds.
Niederer told The Trenton Times she was upset about her son's death at the time. When asked if she wanted to threaten the president, she answered, "Absolutely not."
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