Letter to the Editor Results in Secret Service Visit

[marmar]

Pa. man's letter brings Secret Service
January 21, 2007
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --An elderly man who wrote in a letter to the editor about Saddam Hussein's execution that "they hanged the wrong man" got a visit from Secret Service agents concerned he was threatening President Bush.
The letter by Dan Tilli, 81, was published in Monday's edition of The Express-Times of Easton, Pa. It ended with the line, "I still believe they hanged the wrong man."
Tilli said the statement was not a threat. "I didn't say who -- I could've meant (Osama) bin Laden," he said Friday.
Two Secret Service agents questioned Tilli at his Bethlehem apartment Thursday, briefly searching the place and taking pictures of him, he said.
The Secret Service confirmed the encounter. Bob Slama, special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Philadelphia office, said it was the agency's duty to investigate.
The agents almost immediately decided Tilli was not a threat, Slama said
"We have no further interest in Dan," he said.
Tilli said the agents appeared more relaxed when he dug out a scrapbook containing more than 200 letters that he has written over the years, almost all on political topics.
"He said, 'Keep writing, but just don't make no threats,'" Tilli said of one of the agents.
It wasn't Tilli's first run-in with the federal government over his letter writing. Two FBI agents from Allentown showed up at his home last year about a letter he wrote advocating a civil war to unseat Bush, he said.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/01/21/pa_mans_letter_brings_secret_service/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News

[Connonym]

1. Scary

Have you ever wondered if stuff that we say here on DU puts us on some sort of a watch list? Or is that just crazy thinking?

[marmar]

2. "Or is that just crazy thinking?"

Not at all.....By the way, is that a knock at your door? :scared: :evilgrin:

[gilpo]

3. Hi agent Mike!

[marmar]

4. Teehee....

:)

[Justyce]

5. It is funny that they automatically assume he's

talking about bush rather than bin Laden - LOL!

[marmar]

7. Exactly....

Probably because they're thinking the exact same thing....:think:

[donco6]

6. I sure feel safer.

Good thing we've got these guys spending their valuable time hunting down 81-yr-olds.