The Tampa officer is accused of telling his dry cleaner President Bush and his dad should be shot, then denying it. He's being fired.
By GRAHAM BRINK
Published August 28, 2004
TAMPA - A rookie Tampa police officer faces charges of threatening to shoot the president and then lying to federal agents about it.
Authorities say last month, Joseph Chiejina Mazagwu told his dry cleaner he did not agree with President Bush's policies on Iraq and Africa. Mazagwu said the president and his father needed to be shot in the head, and that if someone gave him the bullets, "I'd do it myself," authorities said.
Those allegations could land Mazagwu in prison. He was arrested Friday on charges of making a threat against the president and making a false statement to federal agents.
Mazagwu, 36, a native of Nigeria who joined the Tampa Police Department in June after 11 years in the Army, did not comment to news reporters after making his first appearance in court Friday afternoon. He was released after posting $25,000 bail.
According to authorities, Mazagwu was picking up his dry cleaning July 15 when the owner of the shop asked him if he was going to be on the security detail for the president's trip to Tampa the next day.
The shop owner later reported that Mazagwu said he would never help out on such a detail for Bush, federal prosecutor Robert O'Neill told a judge Friday. He then launched into a "tirade" about Bush and his foreign policy, O'Neill said.
The next day, another officer picked up his cleaning at the shop. The owner mentioned what Mazagwu had said. The officer relayed the information to his lieutenant, who started an investigation. When questioned about the incident, Mazagwu said he hadn't made the statements, according to court documents. He later apologized for making the remarks.
O'Neill told the judge there was no evidence that Mazagwu intended to carry out the threat. Mazagwu's attorney, DeeAnn Athan, said she thought the incident could be a "huge misunderstanding."
She did not elaborate.
Federal law states that it is a crime to threaten to injure or kill the president. The threat must be made willfully and must be a "true threat" - in other words, a threat made in a serious manner, not a mere political argument, idle comment or something said in a joking manner.
A violator can be sentenced to up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Luke Lirot, a First Amendment attorney, said he thought the comments sounded more like sarcastic exaggeration than a real threat. People make allegorical statements of violence all the time, especially in the political arena, he said.
Some examples: "That guy ought to have his head handed to him," "I'm going to bury that guy" or "I want to see him burn in hell."
"What the officer said is certainly a graphic statement about how he feels about the current administration," Lirot said. "But it does not sound like it was anything more than a guy talking."
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa declined to comment.
Mazagwu is suspended from the Police Department and is in the process of being fired. He passed the polygraph and psychological tests required to become an officer, said police Chief Steve Hogue.
And so far, an investigation into Mazagwu's hiring has not revealed anything that should have raised a red flag, Hogue said.
"We are going to use this as a learning experience," he said.
