Mo. man indicted for threat to Bush

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A southwest Missouri man was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on a charge he threatened to kill President Bush.

Darrel David Alford allegedly said he intended to fly remote model airplanes with explosives into an area where Bush would be speaking, according to the indictment returned in Springfield.

The alleged threat was made Aug. 4, according to a release from U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District in Kansas City. It was not clear when the alleged threat was to be carried out or how authorities became aware of it.

Burton Taylor, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said he could not discuss details of the case.

Vice President Dick Cheney spoke Aug. 4 in Lee's Summit. Bush was last in Missouri on July 30, when he spoke at a rally at Hammons Field in Springfield, about 30 miles north of Buffalo.

Alford, 56, of Buffalo, was in federal custody Thursday, authorities said. He was expected to appear Friday in U.S. District Court.

The U.S. Secret Service investigated the case, officials said. A call Thursday to the Springfield field office was referred to Kansas City, where a spokeswoman said there was no one available to discuss the case.