Man accused of threatening to kill Obama, blow up Mall of America

A Colorado man is accused of threatening to kill President Obama and blow up the Mall of America. Timothy Ryan Gutierrez, 20, was indicted Tuesday in Denver's federal court, according to the Star Tribune report.

He faces one count of transmission of threats and one count of falsely threatening to use explosives. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

More from the Star Tribune:

Gutierrez emailed the FBI eight days before Obama was inaugurated, the indictment alleges, and wrote: "I'm going to assassinate the new president of the United States of America. PS you have 48 hours to stop it from happening."

Federal court records also say he emailed the FBI with a threat against the mall: "I have rigged 40 pounds of C4 [a moldable plastic explosive] ... and my favorite TNT to 7 cars outside the Mall of America."

Maybe we are missing something, but what legitimate criminal hoping to cause harm would call up the FBI ahead of time? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? People just have it all wrong these days.