President Obama's Niece Threatened Before NCAA Game
(Photo: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Scary situation before the Princeton-Maryland NCAA Tournament women's basketball game Monday night.
That's because USA TODAY learned that President Obama's niece, Leslie Robinson, was threatened prior to the game. Earlier in the day, the University of Maryland's police department offices received an eight-minute voicemail, on which a woman said an armed man was driving around campus with a gun.
The threat was linked to Robinson, who didn't play in the game, which Maryland wound up winning. President Obama was in attendance Saturday night to support Princeton, but wasn't present at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md., on Monday night.
After receiving the threat, security was more beefed up than usual. Secret Service officers were also in the arena because of the presence of Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Fortunately, Robinson was kept away from potential harm and there wasn't any reported violence on campus.
"Leslie's safe. She's in my locker room. No one loves her like I do," Princeton coach Courtney Banghart told USA TODAY. "And she's an important part of our team, so keep the freaks out of the gym."
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