Guard accused of Obama threats

AN airport security guard who was overheard saying he had “cut a hole in a fence to be able to shoot” Barack Obama pleaded not guilty to making terror threats against the US president.

John Brek appeared via video feed from the Essex County Jail, New Jersey, where he has been held since his arrest on Tuesday night.

The 55-year-old Brek didn’t speak during the hearing.

Municipal Judge Amilkar Velez-Lopez rejected the state’s request to raise Brek’s bail to $500,000 (€320,000), and instead raised it from $100,000 to $200,000.

Brek also pleaded not guilty to possession of hollow point bullets, which is prohibited in New Jersey, and to receiving stolen property for allegedly having a stolen gun among the more than 40 firearms recovered from his residence on Tuesday. The bail on those charges remained at $20,000.

“We really have to take these matters seriously,” the judge said. “He had a very real possibility of carrying out those threats. He would have been in close proximity to the president.”

Obama arrived in Newark on Wednesday to appear at a campaign rally.