TIME Crime

Jealous Friend Implicates Love Rival in Obama Assassination Plot

U.S. President Obama arrives onboard Air Force One at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York
U.S. President Barack Obama arrives on board Air Force One at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., on Aug. 29, 2014 Jonathan Ernst—Reuters

The man called 911 and said his former roommate planned to kill the President during a visit to New York State

A jealous man from Yonkers, N.Y., has admitted falsely telling police that a female friend’s boyfriend was planning to assassinate U.S. President Barack Obama during a visit to Westchester County in August.

Juan Medina, 31, called 911 on Aug. 29 when Obama was in Westchester for two fundraisers, USA Today reported. He told them that an acquaintance from New Haven, Conn., was on his way to New York State armed with two assault rifles and intent on killing the President.

Agents from a host of law-enforcement agencies rushed to locate the man he’d named and finally swooped on the town of Hamden, in Connecticut. The man said he suspected his former roommate and girlfriend’s friend of placing the emergency call, leading them back to Medina.

Although Medina denied placing the hoax call on two separate occasions last month, he finally confessed after failing a lie-detector test during a second interview.

The confession was reported by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who said Medina tried to get the Connecticut man in trouble because he did not approve of his relationship with his girlfriend.

Medina was charged on Wednesday with one count of making false statements to authorities, and has since been released on $25,000 bail.

[USA Today]

Your browser, Internet Explorer 8 or below, is out of date. It has known security flaws and may not display all features of this and other websites.

Learn how to update your browser