Suspect: I'm 'Working on a Relationship' With Bush Daughter

Secret Service steps in
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 1, 2014 9:27 AM CST
Suspect: I'm 'Working on a Relationship' With Bush Daughter
   (Shutterstock)

A man from upstate New York has been charged in a bizarre case involving George W. Bush and his daughter Barbara. Secret Service nabbed Benjamin Smith in Manhattan and say he was sitting in a car with a loaded rifle, a machete, and a can of gasoline, reports Reuters. The 44-year-old was charged with threatening to kill the former president—he shouted "Bush will get his" upon his arrest—and told the Secret Service that he was "working on a relationship with Barbara Bush." Prosecutors say he was referring to Bush's daughter, not his mother.

Authorities tracked him down via cell phone after his mother called police to say she had found a weird note in their Pittsford home. "I'm going to work for George W. Bush and the Pentagon," it read. "I have to slay a dragon and then Barbara Bush is mine." Authorities aren't sure why he went to Manhattan. His lawyer says her client didn't pose a "true threat." (More George W. Bush stories.)

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