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TAMPA - The U.S. Secret Service is looking into reports that a crowd member yelled,"Kill him!" while Gov. Sarah Palin was talking about Sen. Barack Obama during her Clearwater rally Monday.

The incident reportedly occurred after Palin questioned Obama's patriotism because of his acquaintance with William Ayers, a Chicago university professor who was an anti-Vietnam War radical in the 1970s.

Apparently the only public evidence of the "kill him" shout is a Washington Post news story Tuesday by reporter Dana Milbank, who covered the rally.

Milbank later was quoted in an interview with the Politico Web site as saying he thought the shout may have been a reference to Ayers, not Obama.

Milbank was quoted Thursday saying he had been contacted by the Secret Service about the matter. A Secret Service spokesman confirmed that the agency was aware of the report and looking into it.

Spokesman Ed Donovan said no Secret Service agent heard the threat, nor was it reported by local law officers or the public.

Federal law makes it a crime to threaten to kill, kidnap or harm a presidential candidate.

Milbank reported Tuesday the shouted threat came after Palin, quoting the New York Times, told the crowd Ayers was "one of Obama's earliest supporters," and "was a domestic terrorist and part of the group that launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol."

The Obama campaign confirms that Obama knows Ayers, who today lives in Obama's Chicago neighborhood and held a campaign coffee for an Obama state Senate campaign in 1995.

Milbank also reported that crowd members shouted obscenities at reporters in a press area during Palin's speech, and that one crowd member shouted a racial epithet at a black sound man and told him, "Sit down, boy."

Swampland, TIME
October 10, 2008 6:23
McCain Denounces Pitchfork-Wavers
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Here in Lakeville, the traveling press was pretty sure we'd see more of the kind of vicious anti-Obama attitude that's becoming a hallmark of McCain rallies of late.

As the town hall started, McCain was off with more pep than usual. Making the same old jokes, but with energy that reminded us of "the old McCain." But would he use his power for good or evil? An audience member teed up a great big softball that could totally hit a dark side home run, asking, "We want you to fight at your next debate... we want to see s REAL fight at the debate, we want a STRONG leader for the next four years." That is Minnesota nice for "RevWrightACORNAyers," etc.

But then something weird happens: He acknowledges the "energy" people have been showing at rallies, and how glad he is that people are excited. But, he says, "I respect Sen. Obama and his accomplishments." People booed at the mention of his name. McCain, visibly angry, stopped them: "I want EVERYONE to be respectful, and lets make sure we are."

The very next questioner tried to push back on this request, noting that he needed to "tell the American the TRUTH about Barack Obama" -- a not very subtle way, I think, to ask John McCain to NOT tell the truth about Barack Obama. McCain told her there's a "difference between record and rhetoric, and I plan to talk about his record, respectfully... I don't mean that has to reduce your ferocity, I just mean it has to be respectful."

And then later, again, someone dangled a great big piece of low-hanging fruit in front of McCain: "I'm scared to bring up my child in a world where Barack Obama is president."

McCain replies, "Well, I don't want him to be president, either. I wouldn't be running if I did. But," and he pauses for emphasis, "you don't have to be scared to have him be President of the United States." A round of boos.

And he snaps back: "Well, obviously I think I'd be better. "

Of course, this is kind of the best of both world: Crazy base-world gets to bring up Ayers and whatever else, really, and he gets to say, "Be respectful." But I think he means it.

UPDATE: Indeed, he just snatched the microphone out the hands of a woman who began her question with, "I'm scared of Barack Obama... he's an Arab terrorist..."

"No, no ma'am," he interrupted. "He's a decent family man with whom I happen to have some disagreements."