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(AP) - Law enforcement agents have broken up a plot
by two neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate Democratic presidential
candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 88 black people, the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives said Monday.

      In court records unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in
Jackson, Tenn., federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a
gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school
in a murder spree that was to begin in Tennessee. Agents said the
skinheads did not identify the school by name.


      Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of ATF's Nashville field
office, said the two men planned to kill 88 people, including 14
African-Americans by beheading. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic
in the white supremacist community.


      The men also sought to go on a national killing spree after the
Tennessee murders, with Obama as its final target, Cavanaugh told
The Associated Press.

      "They said that would be their last, final act -- that they
would attempt to kill Sen. Obama," Cavanaugh said. "They didn't
believe they would be able to do it, but that they would get killed
trying."


      An Obama spokeswoman traveling with the senator in Pennsylvania
had no immediate comment.


      The men, Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., and Paul
Schlesselman 18, of Helena-West Helena, Ark., are being held
without bond. Agents seized a rifle, a sawed-off shotgun and three
pistols from the men when they were arrested. Authorities alleged
the two men were preparing to break into a gun shop to steal more.


      The two men were arrested Oct. 22 by the Crockett County, Tenn.,
Sheriff's Office. 

"Once we arrested the defendants and suspected
they had violated federal law, we immediately contacted federal
authorities," said Crockett County Sheriff Troy Klyce.


      Attorney Joe Byrd, who has been hired to represent Cowart, did
not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday. Messages left
on two phone numbers listed under Cowart's name were not
immediately returned.

      No telephone number for Schlesselman in Helena-West Helena could
be found immediately.


      Cowart and Schlesselman are charged with possessing an
unregistered firearm, conspiring to steal firearms from a federally
licensed gun dealer, and threatening a candidate for president.

      The investigation is continuing, and more charges are possible,
Cavanaugh said.


      The court records say Cowart and Schlesselman also bought nylon
rope and ski masks to use in a robbery or home invasion to fund
their spree, during which they allegedly planned to go from state
to state and kill people.


      For the Obama plot, the legal documents show, Cowart and
Schlesselman "planned to drive their vehicle as fast as they could
toward Obama, shooting at him from the windows."


      "Both individuals stated they would dress in all white tuxedos
and wear top hats during the assassination attempt," the court
complaint states. "Both individuals further stated they knew they
would and were willing to die during this attempt."

      Cavanaugh said there's no evidence so far that others were
willing to assist Cowart and Schlesselman with the plot.

      He said authorities took the threats very seriously.

      "They seemed determined to do it," Cavanaugh said. "Even if
they were just to try it, it would be a trail of tears around the
South."


      The court documents say the two men met about a month ago on the
Internet and found common ground in their shared "white power"
and "skinhead" philosophy.


      The numbers 14 and 88 are symbols in skinhead culture, referring
to a 14-word phrase attributed to an imprisoned white supremacist:


"We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white
children" and to the eighth letter of the alphabet, H. Two "8"s
or "H"s stand for "Heil Hitler."


      Helena-West Helena, on the Mississippi River in east Arkansas'
Delta, is in one of the nation's poorest regions, trailing even
parts of Appalachia in its standard of living. Police Chief Fred
Fielder said he had never heard of Schlesselman.


      However, the reported threat of attacking a school filled with
black students worried Fielder. Helena-West Helena, with a
population of 12,200, is 66 percent black. "Predominantly black
school, take your pick," he said.
      

Gallery

The ATF says it has broken up a plot to
assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, and to kill 88 black people in a Tennessee murder spree.

Feds disrupt assassination plot targeting Obama

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