Updated Nov. 28, 2011

Hate Experts Express ‘Serious Concern’ as Obama Escalates Campaign

By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Following the arrest of a man suspected of shooting at the White House with an assault rifle, race hate experts are saying regardless of that suspect’s motive, Obama has consistently remained under escalated threat because of his race, therefore there is cause for “serious concern”.

“Every president is a target, but Obama has faced some unique threats largely because of his skin color,” says Heidi Beirich, a researcher for the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, a foremost authority on the scourge of race hate in America. “There were two assassination plots during the campaign by White supremacists. The Secret Service gave Obama protection earlier than any other candidates because of these kinds of threats. And they’ve also said that Obama’s had more threats against him than other presidents. This was in the first year of his presidency; so it’s a very serious concern.”

Beirich says the SPLC has actually received written threats against President Obama that they’ve turned over to authorities. “They take them very seriously,” she said.

Oscar Ortega-Hernandez, 21, was arrested in Pennsylvania Nov. 16 in connection with a shooting in which a window near the White House living quarters of the President and his family was struck by one of two bullets that were apparently fired. The bullet was stopped by ballistic glass. The President and his family were away and not inside the executive mansion. The White House had no comment on the situation.

The arrest of Ortega-Hernandez came after reports of shots fired near the White House on Friday night, Nov. 11. Ortega-Hernandez, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, is reportedly known to have mental health issues violent tendencies. He is described by authorities as being obsessed with President Obama, calling him the anti-Christ. So far, there have been no indications that he was a member of a hate group.

Beirich said the fact that Ortega-Hernandez was motivated by so-called “anti-government conspiracies” rather than race hate should not serve as a comfort of any kind.

“The number of anti-government conspiracies like that about the new world order exploded when he was elected,” she said.

She pointed out that the fact that Black Republican Conservative Herman Cain, has become the first presidential candidate among eight Republicans to receive Secret Service protection is also revealing of the level of race hate in America.

Jack Levin, a sociology professor at Northeastern University in Boston, who specializes in prejudice, violence and hate crimes, says the fact that Cain is a Black conservative whose views may resonate with a vast number of White Americans does not matter.

“It’s the color of the skin that’s the motivation for violence,” Levin says. He indicated that President Obama's re-election campaign is seen by racists as a resurgence of his power. “They begin to take action when they feel threatened.”