A man was arrested on Friday in Brookhaven, Mississippi after having made threats to assassinate Barack Obama on his January 20 inauguration, according to the US Department of Justice. "Threats against the president-elect will be taken very seriously," said US attorney Dunn Lampton. "Use of Internet chatrooms to express those threats is as much a crime as uttering the words. Threats of this nature will be pursued swiftly and vigorously." Steven Joseph Christopher, who is from Wisconsin, was arrested by the US Secret Service, with the assistance of local law enforcement. Threatening to kill the US president-elect is an offense that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a 250,000-dollar fine.