This photo of Ian Rotunno was shared on his Facebook page.

Ian Rotunno did not plan to kill former President George W. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney, according to allegations in court Tuesday.

Instead, an attorney claimed, Rotunno hoped he could spur such a groundswell of anger against Bush and Cheney that citizens would rise up and publicly execute them.
His was a bizarre plot, one that led him to an October arrest for threats against the former leaders of the United States. As outlined in federal court Tuesday, Rotunno’s beliefs were the offspring of a delusional mind with narcissistic tendencies.
According to a psychological evaluation, Rotunno planned in October to draw attention to himself by firing a shotgun into the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. He envisioned that his actions would trigger support for public executions of Bush and Cheney.
After those executions, Rotunno thought “our country would be viewed more amicably by others (and) terrorism would stop,” according to the report, parts of which were read at Rotunno’s detention hearing Tuesday by his attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Mark Hosken.
Federal authorities in October charged Rotunno, 24, with threats against Bush after Rotunno left his Gates workplace. Comments he made there about Cheney prompted co-workers to worry about his mental state, and they notified authorities.
Rotunno turned himself into the Owego Police Department in Tioga County. Police found a loaded shotgun, a flare gun and knives in his car. The Secret Service alleged that he made threats there and then later, while hospitalized at a Hornell hospital, against Bush and Cheney.
Rotunno has remained jailed as lawyers unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a plea deal. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley Tyler said in court last week that federal authorities in a central New York district may take the case because the alleged threat in Owego should be prosecuted there.
Tyler argued Tuesday that Rotunno is dangerous and should remain jailed pending resolution of his case. However, he noted, under federal sentencing guidelines, Rotunno’s sentence could be only six to 12 months, meaning Rotunno has already served most of the sentence.
With a conviction, Rotunno could be under supervised release for up to five years and that supervision could include mental health treatment, Tyler said.
Hosken said that Rotunno is agreeable to a pre-trial release that would include residence at his mother’s home in Ithaca, electronic monitoring and mental health counseling. Rotunno has had no disciplinary issues at the Steuben County jail, where he has been held, Hosken said.
Payson reserved decision on the matter.

In court, Hosken challenged the foundation of the criminal accusation that Rotunno, during an interview at St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell where he was hospitalized after he was taken into custody, made threats against Bush. That allegation came from a Secret Service agent who interviewed Rotunno.
The agent interviewed Rotunno with a hospital psychiatrist and social worker present; neither recalled such threats, Hosken said. Rotunno did discuss how he planned to spur a mass uprising against Bush and Cheney with the Secret Service agent, because he thought the agent was there to spread his message, Hosken said.
GCRAIG http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110601/NEWS01/106010323/Plan-kill-Bush-Cheney-denied