Benjamin Smith was charged on Friday with threatening to kill former President George W. Bush after professing a romantic interest in his oldest daughter, Barbara, prosecutors said.

The New York man was found sitting in a car with a loaded rifle, machete and a container of gasoline.

Benjamin Smith, 44, was arrested in Manhattan by the Secret Service, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

“Bush will get his,” Benjamin Smith screamed as he was taken into custody, according to the complaint. Later, when asked about his marital status, he told agents he was divorced and “working on a relationship with Barbara Bush”.

At a preliminary hearing, Assistant Attorney Andrea Griswold told Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman the government believes Benjamin Smith was referring to the former president’s daughter and not George W. Bush’s mother, who shares the same name.

It is a crime under federal law to threaten a current or former president.

Benjamin Smith was charged with threatening to kill former President George W. Bush

On Thursday, Benjamin Smith’s mother called police to report she had found a threatening note in the home she shares with her son and that a rifle was also missing, the complaint said.

“I’m going to work for George W. Bush and the Pentagon,” the note said, according to the government.

“I have to slay a dragon and then Barbara Bush is mine.”

The Secret Service tracked Benjamin Smith using his cell phone to Manhattan, where they arrested him early Friday morning.

It was not clear why Benjamin Smith went to New York City or where the former president and his family were at the time.

Benjamin Smith’s defense lawyer, Peggy Cross-Goldenberg, said the note and Smith’s outbursts did not constitute a “true threat”.

The judge also conceded it was “unclear” a jury would find Benjamin Smith guilty.

“Admittedly, there is some inconsistency in the notion that the way to win Barbara Bush’s affections is to kill her father,” Judge Henry Pitman said.