A Colorado Springs man who was recently released from jail has been charged in federal court with threatening to kill the president.
Donald Edward Hatten, 43, was arraigned today before a federal magistrate, after being indicted on the charge yesterday. Hatten pleaded not guilty at the arraignment, according to court records.
According to a complaint filed in the case, Hatten is accused of walking into the Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Colorado Springs in January and saying, “I want to stop the voices, and I intend to kill the president.” Hatten allegedly told investigators he planned to hitchhike to his father’s house in Pennsylvania, obtain a handgun there and then travel to Washington, D.C. He said he hoped that by killing President Barack Obama he would prove that Obama was not the Antichrist, according to the complaint.
“Hatten believed that these actions would result in his father speaking to him again as well as his wife,” the complaint states.
After telling this to FBI agents, Hatten was taken for a psychiatric evaluation at Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, where he was placed on a 3-day involuntary committal, according to the complaint.
If convicted of the single count of threatening to kill the president, Hatten could face up to five years in prison. Hatten, according to the complaint, was released from jail in early January after serving a sentence for possessing child pornography.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com.
