Newspaper apologizes for Obama assassination ad

A newspaper in Pennsylvania is apologizing after running a personal ad that appeared to call for the assassination of President Barack Obama.

The ad appeared in the Warren Times Observer newspaper

The original page of the paper (shown in this linked PDF file) includes an ordinary looking page of classified ads along with a mysterious personal ad with the following text: "May Obama follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy!"

All four presidents were assassinated. Abraham Lincoln was killed by an assassin in Washington's Ford's Theater in April 1865. James Garfield was shot in July 1881 and died two months later. William McKinley was shot and killed in September 1901. And John F. Kennedy was killed by a sniper's bullet in November 1963 in Dallas.

The ad ran on Thursday and the newspaper issued an apology once it figured out what happened. "A person from Warren [Pennsylvania] placed the ad, which apparently alludes to the wish that President Obama meet an untimely end by linking him with four assassinated presidents. The ad representative didn't make the connection among the four other presidents mentioned and mistakenly allowed the ad to run," the paper said.

"Upon realizing the mistake early Thursday morning, the ad was immediately discontinued and the identity of the person who placed the ad was turned over to Warren City Police as per newspaper policy. The local police department forwarded the information to federal authorities, as per department policy."