A Long Beach man was reportedly contacted by the Secret Service over the weekend after he allegedly tried to file an obituary ad for democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with the Las Vegas Review-Journal on the eve of the state’s caucuses Saturday.
According to a report from the Review-Journal, a man identified as Don Schubert tried to file the obituary notice with the newspaper with a date of death listed as February 20, 2016. This prompted the paper to contact the Secret Service after it denied the filing of the obituary.
Schubert, a Bernie Sanders supporter, was contacted by the Secret Service later that night and told the agent that the attempt to file the obituary was “political humor,” playfully predicting Clinton losing the Nevada caucuses—signifying the death of her campaign— the next day, according to the Review-Journal. “Don Schubert’s House” is listed on the Sanders official campaign page as a host-site for a volunteer phone bank.
Over the weekend, Schubert posted a statement to his Facebook page that said he planned to file a civil suit against the newspaper and the author of the article for publishing a slanderous account of his trip to their office last Friday.
“The local LV newspaper wrote a story about me that is filled with half truths,” Schubert wrote. “I will write them a letter and I am considering contacting the ACLU as I believe they violated my constitutional rights yesterday.”
According to United States Code Section 879 referring to threats against presidents, their family members, major candidates for that office, or anyone under Secret Service protection, people found guilty of knowingly or willfully threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict bodily harm against anyone falling into those categories is subject to fines or imprisonment for up to five years. As a former first lady, Clinton (code name: Evergreen) already had Secret Service protection. Sanders (code name: Intrepid), was recently granted Secret Service detail as well.
Schubert was advised that he could be arrested for his actions but also told by the agent that the Secret Service was not planning on doing so according to the article.