Following the Al Qaeda leader’s death, Tacoma schoolboy Vito LaPinta wrote on his Facebook page that President Barack Obama should be wary of suicide bombers. ‘I was saying how Osama was dead and for Obama to be careful because there could be suicide bombers,’ he said.
A week later he was sitting in class at Truman Middle School, Washington, when he was called into the principal’s office. Vito said: ‘A man walked in with a suit and glasses and he said he was part of the Secret Service. ‘He told me it was because of a post I made that indicated I was a threat toward the President. I was very scared.’

The Tacoma school district admitted a Secret Service agent questioned the boy and a security guard called the child’s mother because the principal was on another call. The school district said they did not wait for Vito’s mother to get there because they thought she didn’t take the phone call seriously. ‘That’s a blatant lie,’ claims Timi Robertson, who said she had just finished lunch with a friend when she received the phone call.
‘I answered it, and it’s the school security guard who’s giving me a heads up that the Secret Service is here with the Tacoma Police Department and they have Vito and they’re talking to him,’ she said. ‘I just about lost it. My 13-year-old son is supposed to be safe and secure in his classroom and he’s being interrogated without my knowledge or consent privately.’ She then rushed to the school only to discover her son had already been questioned for half an hour. The seventh grader said that once his mother arrived the agent finished the interview and told him he was not in any trouble. Ms Robertson said she isn’t financially able to take legal action but hopes the episode raises awareness about the treatment she said her son endured. The Seattle branch of the Secret Service did not respond to requests for comment.
Posted: at | |