President Obama's niece threatened before NCAA tournament game

(Image credit: Twitter.com/USAToday)

last updated 24 March 2015

For Monday night's NCAA tournament women's basketball game between Princeton and the University of Maryland, security was increased following a threat against President Obama's niece that was left on an answering machine.

A person with knowledge of the threat who was not allowed to speak publicly told USA Today that the University of Maryland athletics department received an eight-minute voicemail that stated a man was headed to campus with a Glock handgun, and linked his appearance to the game and Leslie Robinson, the daughter of Michelle Obama's brother, Craig Robinson. Leslie Robinson is a freshman forward at Princeton.

While Leslie Robinson was not told about the threat, Princeton coach Courtney Banghart was notified, USA Today reports, and in addition to normal game security, undercover officers were stationed near the Princeton bench. Several Secret Service agents were also on hand, as Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan were in attendance. Obama was at Saturday's game between Princeton and Wisconsin-Green Bay, but not Monday's game.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox