"Facebook said Monday it is cooperating with the U.S. Secret Service in investigating a poll that recently appeared on the social-networking site asking whether President Barack Obama should be killed.

The popular social networking site said it disabled the poll — apparently another sign of vitriol in the health care debate — as soon as it became aware that it had been posted by an "individual user" using a "third-party developer." Neither the individual nor the developer were identified by Facebook or the Secret Service, which said it began its investigation Saturday.

"We take any threat against our protectees very seriously, and we will investigate it thoroughly," Darrin Blackford, a Secret Service spokesman, told Bloomberg News. "We will look at it, take the necessary steps, and work this thing backwards, hopefully to where it originated."

The poll reportedly asked respondents "Should Obama be killed?" The choices: No, Maybe, Yes, and Yes if he cuts my health care.

Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said the poll was apparently created over the weekend and Facebook took action when users alerted the company to its existence."We got contacted by the Secret Service, who said, 'Hey, take that down.' We told them we took it down an hour ago," Schnitt said."

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_13439982