Report: Fla. cop retires after talk of assassinating Obama

A Jacksonville, Fla. police officer has resigned his post after admitting he told co-workers that he wanted to assassinate President Obama, according to media reports.

The cop, Sam Koivisto, though, told Jacksonville’s Florida Times-Union that his remarks had been “blown out of proportion.”

Koivisto acknowledged he had told colleagues after the election that “If an order was given to kill Obama or something, then I wouldn’t mind being the guy.”

The 26-year veteran of the force added that he told co-workers that his comments were not meant to be taken seriously. “That’s not saying I’m going to do it or would do it, and that’s never going to happen,” he had said. 

On Wednesday, Koivisto told the paper he was retiring from the force. He said that he had intended to retire in 5 months, but moving up the date of his departure was the “best for everybody.”

Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford criticized Koivisto’s comments as inappropriate when they first surfaced, and the department conducted an internal investigation.

During his disciplinary interview, Koivisto also told officers that he would not mind if a nuclear bomb was detonated in the northeastern United States and “killed them all” because the region was populated with Obama supporters. 

The U.S. Secret Service said last week that they had investigated the threatening statements.

---