Denver resident Mitchell Kusick (pictured), who was arrested and charged with threatening to kill President Barack Obama during a visit to the state, was ruled “mentally ill” by a federal judge on Monday and must remain in custody, reports the Chicago Tribune.
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The 20-year-old, according to the Secret Service, had been keeping track of Obama’s visits to the Denver area. An affidavit by the intelligence arm of the government also states that Kusick, who is bipolar and experienced a mental breakdown on October 28th, had informed his therapist that he had been fantasizing about homicides every day for a number of years.
A Secret Service Agent testified at Kusick’s hearing that assassination plot books were found when they searched the young man’s home that he shared with his parents. An affidavit from the government agency also states that Kusick “made credible threats and took steps” toward shooting and killing children at a trick-or-treat Halloween event sponsored by a Denver-area high school.
After his breakdown, Kusick was hospitalized for mental disorders from October 29th to November 9th and released, when the psychiatric health providers thought he was no longer a threat.
The U.S. Secret Service, however, were not convinced that Kusick should have been given the green light and allowed to re-enter society, so they interviewed then arrested Kusick while he was in the mental hospital because “they were concerned for the community’s safety.”
Kusick’s attorney, Marci Gilligan, wants her client to be released under the electronic monitoring as he awaits for his trial and argues that Kusick should be allowed to remain with his parents and take any required medications that will control his mental state.
Yet at Kusick’s hearing on Monday, Gilligan’s defense of her client fell on deaf ears and now Judge Kristin Mix is standing firm on her decision stating, “It’s clear to the court that the defendant has a severe mental illness.” The judge went on to also reaffirm that Kusick is a “risk to the community” and denied a request from Gillian, which would have allowed her client to be released on a bond.
Watch news coverage of Kusick here:
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