Tennessee assassination plot targeting Obama disrupted

Tennessee assassination plot targeting Obama disrupted

WASHINGTON (WATE/AP) -- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said Monday it has broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree.

In court records unsealed Monday, agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target an unnamed but predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads.

Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., and Paul Schlesselman, 18, of West Helena, Ark., were charged Friday with the illegal possession of a sawed off shotgun, conspiracy to rob a federal firearms licensee, and making threats against a major candidate for the office of president.

Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of the Nashville field office for the ATF, said the two men planned to shoot 88 black people and decapitate another 14. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

The men also sought to go on a national killing spree, with Obama as its final target.

Court records say Cowart and Schlesselman met about a month ago on the Internet and shared their strong beliefs about "White Power" and "Skinhead" philosophy. 

The pair then began hatching a plot to go on a "killing spree" that first involved robbing a gun shop of weapons and ammunition. 

Federal law enforcement officials allege Cowart traveled from Tennessee to Arkansas on October 20 to pick up Schlesselman and carry out their plan. 

According to the complaint filed in court, Cowart and Schlesselman planned to target a predominately African American school in a killing spree, then attempt to assassinate Barack Obama. 

Federal authorities have not said how they learned of the plot, but they gave credit to Crockett and Haywood county sheriff's deputies for their assistance.

Cowart and Schlesselman appeared in federal court in Memphis Monday.

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