An Alabama man is facing federal charges for allegedly calling the White House switchboard and saying he planned to assassinate President Joe Biden.
John Andrew Bazor Jr., 37, was charged by the U.S. Secret Service in federal court on Tuesday for making threats against Biden. Family members told federal investigators that Bazor has struggled with mental health and substance abuse issues, according to court documents.
Bazor is expected to undergo an evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial. His attorney says the case is a matter of mental health, not criminal intent.
"Based on all facts and circumstances presently known, it sure appears that he needs to be in a hospital receiving mental health treatment, not a jail," Gordon Armstrong, attorney for Bazor, told Newsweek in an email.
Secret Service agents arrested Bazor on Monday after locating him in an extended-stay hotel room in Mobile, Alabama, according to the probable cause affidavit filed by Special Agent Joseph Paul.
Bazor called the Secret Service's Mobile field office the weekend of July 9, according to the affidavit, leaving multiple rambling voice messages stating he had filed an unspecified complaint with the FBI and had called the State Department and the CIA.
The White House switchboard operator reported receiving a threatening phone call at 9:37 a.m. on July 10, according to the affidavit.
"I am coming to assassinate the president," the caller told the switchboard operator, according to the affidavit. "I can't wait to see your faces when I put a bullet in him."
Armstrong told Newsweek that while the case is in its early stages there are two clear issues: whether Bazor's call to a switchboard operator was a real threat, and whether Bazor is competent enough to develop the intent to make the threat and follow through on it.
A day after the White House switchboard received the call, the Secret Service issued a subpoena linking Bazor to the phone number that was used to contact the agency's field office.
The Secret Service launched an investigation led by Paul, along with Special Agent William Watson, who unsuccessfully attempted to call Bazor on the phone number, according to the affidavit. The agents located a possible home residence for Bazor in Mobile, Alabama, and knocked on its door the morning of July 18.
Bazor's mother, Kimberly Clark, answered the door and told the agents he did not live there and expressed concern about her son's mental health, according to the affidavit.
"Clark advised that her son has never been officially diagnosed with a mental illness," the affidavit states. "Clark stated that she is fearful of Bazor and attempted on multiple occasions to have him committed. Clark advised that Bazor has been using methamphetamine since 2017."
She further told agents that Bazor had been involuntary committed to Mobile Infirmary without receiving a diagnosis and had threatened to blow up a local hotel.
Bazor had been trying to persuade Clark to rent a vehicle for him so that he could travel to Washington, D.C., for "an unknown reason," according to the affidavit. She also told agents "she sleeps with her car keys in her pillowcase, otherwise Bazor will take her vehicle without authorization."
Agents arrived at Bazor's hotel room later that day where he rambled unintelligibly for several minutes before confirming his telephone number, that he made the threatening phone call to the White House switchboard and that he wanted to carry out the threat, according to the affidavit.
Bazor's sister, Jessy Clark, was also at the hotel and told agents her brother was a narcotics user and needed mental health treatment, the affidavit states. She also told agents that he had been trying to find a vehicle to travel to Washington, D.C., and had been in physical altercations.
Agents contacted local crisis mental health workers, but Bazor refused to speak to them when they arrived, according to the affidavit. Bazor, who is described in the affidavit as uncooperative in the affidavit, was arrested afterwards.
Federal prosecutors have motioned for Bazor to undergo a mental health examination. Armstrong said an order was entered Wednesday for him to be transferred to a medical facility for a psychological evaluation.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jake Thomas is a Newsweek night reporter based in Portland, Oregon. His focus is U.S. national politics, crime and public ... Read more
