ATF Disrupts Skinhead Plot To Assassinate Obama

[ToughOmbre]

Anyone see any other details on this?

Oct 27 04:24 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - The ATF says 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.

TO

[comiso90]

Lets just hope it was a few armchair, redneck nut jobs and not organized domestic terrorists.

I wouldnt be surprised if the ATF intercepted an impassioned, racist e-mail or saw a forum posting and started rounding people up to create positive publicity and convince everybody that they are ever vigilant.

I dont trust them.

.

[ToughOmbre]

You raise a valid thought comiso.

Here's more information from the Vancouver Sun

Published: Monday, October 27, 2008

Two men have been charged for making threats against Barack Obama after federal agents say they broke up a skinhead plot to assassinate the U.S. presidential candidate and decapitate more than 100 black people.

Federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two skinheads in court records unsealed Monday.

Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tennessee and Paul Schlesselman, 18, of West Helena, Arkansas were charged last Friday.

The allegations set forth are serious and will be treated as such, " Lawrence J. Laurenzi said in a news release. "The public can rest assured that federal, state, and local law enforcement are diligently working together to investigate and prosecute the alleged activity."

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Western Tennessee, Cowart and Schlesselman met online through a mutual friend and both claim to have very strong beliefs regarding "White Power" and "Skinhead" philosophy.

The complaint alleges Cowart and Schlesselman began discussing going on a "killing spree".

After talking about robbing a gun shop in a bid to gather weapons, the complaint alleges that Cowart travelled from Tennessee to Arkansas to carry out the plan.

The two men continued to discuss targeting an African-American high school before attempting to kill Obama, the complaint alleges.

"The United States Secret Service takes all threats against Presidential Candidates seriously and is actively investigating the allegations. The Secret Service does not comment on this type of investigation," special agent Richard Harlow said in a news release.

According to the complaint, both men said they were willing to die while trying to carry out their plot. The men were arrested on October 22.

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

The two men are scheduled to be back in court for a hearing on October 30, 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee.

TO

[comiso90]

Thanks for the follow up TO. I hope they keep the event in perspective. It's not like they uncovered a cell of trained bombers. Sounds like a couple kids running their mouth and thumping their chest.

Yes they can be dangerous too but its not exactly a major victory on the War on Terror.

The sad part is that this story could be spun as another example of how America is out to oppress minorities..

I can already hear people quoting it!

.

.

[Messy1]

It would not surprise me that this was a valid plot that was in the works. The US has come a long way, but there are still those who do not want a African American, or several other minorities as president. Wasn't there a similar deal a few months back as I recall?

[JugBR]

lets dont mess skinheads with neo-nazis ! the real skinheads are not racists !

[magnocain]

I have heard from several people that if Obama becomes president, he will probably be assassinated. So, this does not surprise me.

[Amsel]

Was it an actual plot or a thought crime?

[Bluehawk]

Let us not forget that law enforcement intelligence gathering takes place on a regular and constant basis, involving ALL kinds of electronic, written and verbal communications, at ALL levels of police surveillance.

ANY threats to elected officials are taken extremely seriously, no matter how slight or jokingly they are made.

Back when Obama first threw his hat into the ring the blogosphere was hot with talk about his chances of being targeted. The most sensible consensus was that he is somewhat vulnerable owing to his race, but that if the history of assassins is any guide, anyone attempting it would be more likely to be a black than a "skinhead" or KKK, and would be more likely to be a complete nobody from out of the blue than anyone with any serious ideological differences they had been trying to express conventionally in public.

Which, of course, makes them much more dangerous and difficult to detect in advance.

[Njaco]

Let us not forget that law enforcement intelligence gathering takes place on a regular and constant basis, involving ALL kinds of electronic, written and verbal communications, at ALL levels of police surveillance.

oh, no Blue, you mean that dirty, lying Bush was able to possibly save Obama's life?? Oh what is this world coming to when a man can distort and ruin and destroy the Constitution just to save lives! Oh, the horror.

[timshatz]

If it's ATF, it's bush leagues. As the FBI guys say, that's where the rejects from the CIA and FBI training go.

Read the particulars, those guys were just a couple of knuckleheads.

[parsifal]

US assasinations and attempted assassinations (from wiki)

Abraham Lincoln
President Abraham Lincoln was shot by actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth while attending a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre with his wife and two guests. Lincoln died the following day—April 15, 1865—at 7:22 a.m., in the home of William Petersen.
James A. GarfieldThe James A. Garfield assassination took place in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 1881, less than four months after Garfield took office. Charles J. Guiteau was the assassin.
William McKinley
September 6, 1901, in Buffalo, New York. President William McKinley, attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, was shot twice by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist.
John F. Kennedy
November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, JFK was fatally wounded by gunshots while riding with his wife Jacqueline in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Although Kennedy was not formally declared dead until later that day, he effectively died instantaneously. The ten-month investigation of the Warren Commission of 1963–1964 concluded that Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee of the Texas School Book Depository in Dealey Plaza. The United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) of 1976–1979 determined that Kennedy's murder was probably the result of a conspiracy that included Oswald.
Attempted assassinations
Andrew Jackson
At the Capitol Building, a house painter named Richard Lawrence aimed two flintlock pistols at the President, but both misfired, one of them while Lawrence stood within 13 feet (4 m) of Jackson and the other at point-blank range.[1] Lawrence was apprehended after Jackson beat him with a cane. Lawrence was found not guilty by reason of insanity and confined to a mental institution until his death in 1861.
Theodore Roosevelt
October 13, 1912: Three and a half years after he left office, Roosevelt was running for President as a member of the Progressive Party. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, John F. Schrank, a saloon-keeper from New York, shot Roosevelt once with a revolver. A 100-page speech folded over twice and the metal glasses case in Roosevelt's breast pocket slowed the bullet. Amidst the commotion, Roosevelt yelled out "Quiet! I've been shot." Roosevelt insisted on giving his speech with the bullet still lodged inside him. He later went to the hospital, but the bullet was never removed. Roosevelt, remembering that William McKinley died after operations to remove his bullet, chose to have his remain. Schrank said that McKinley's ghost had told him to avenge his assassination. Schrank was found legally insane and was institutionalized until his death in 1943.[2]
Franklin D. Roosevelt
February 15, 1933 (one month before being sworn in for his first term in office): In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara fired five shots at Roosevelt. Four people were wounded and Chicago Mayor, Anton Cermak, was killed. Zangara was found guilty of murder and was executed March 20, 1933. Some researchers believe Cermak, not Roosevelt, was the intended target that day, as the mayor was a staunch foe of Al Capone's Chicago mob organization.
Harry S. Truman
In 1950, two Puerto Rican pro-independence activists attempted to kill Truman, resulting in the murder of one White House police officer and the death of one assassin; Truman was not harmed.
John F. Kennedy
December 11, 1960: While vacationing in Palm Beach, Florida, President-elect John F. Kennedy's life was threatened by Richard Paul Pavlick, a 73-year-old former postal worker. Pavlick's plan was to serve as a suicide bomber by crashing his dynamite-laden 1950 Buick into Kennedy's vehicle, but the plan was disrupted when Pavlick saw Kennedy's wife and daughter bidding him goodbye. That attack of conscience foiled the opportunity, with Pavlick's arrest by the Secret Service coming three days later after he was stopped for a driving violation, with the dynamite still in his car. Pavlick spent the next six years in both federal prison and mental institutions before being released in December 1966.
Richard Nixon
First assassination attempt
April 14, 1972: Milwaukee, Wisconsin native Arthur Bremer arrived in Ottawa, Ontario on April 10 and spent five days in Canada's national capital in an effort to shoot and kill President Nixon, who was visiting the country during this time. On April 14, Nixon made a public appearance in a limousine at Parliament Hill, which Bremer attended, carrying a loaded revolver in his pocket. The presence of Vietnam War protesters and Canadian nationalists, however, led to increased security surrounding the President, and Bremer had great difficulty getting within firing range of Nixon. He did manage finally to get close enough, but the President was traveling by in his limousine with the windows closed, and Bremer was unsure whether any bullets would go through the glass of Nixon's limo. As a result, he didn't open fire and the President sped past unharmed. The following month Bremer shot U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate George Wallace, lodging a bullet in his spine and leaving him paralyzed from the waist down for life.
Second assassination attempt
February 22, 1974: Samuel Byck, planned to kill Nixon by crashing a commercial airliner into the White House. Once on the plane, he was informed that it could not take off with the wheel blocks still in place. He shot the pilot and copilot before killing himself. The events surrounding this assassination attempt were portrayed in the film The Assassination of Richard Nixon.
Gerald Ford
First assassination attempt
September 5, 1975: In Sacramento, California, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, drew a Colt .45 caliber pistol on Ford when he reached to shake her hand in a crowd. There were four cartridges in the pistol's magazine but the firing chamber was empty. She was soon restrained by a Secret Service agent. Fromme was sentenced to life in prison.
Second assassination attempt
September 22, 1975: In San Francisco, California, Sara Jane Moore fired a revolver at Ford from 40 feet (12 m) away. A bystander, Oliver Sipple, grabbed Moore's arm and the shot missed Ford. Moore was sentenced to life in prison. She was later paroled on Monday, December 31, 2007 from a federal prison after serving more than 30 years.
Jimmy Carter
May 5, 1979: Ten minutes before Carter was about to speak at the civic center mall in Los Angeles, Raymond Lee Harvey was arrested carrying a pistol. He later told authorities that he and another man were hired to create a diversion so that Mexican hit men armed with sniper rifles could kill Carter. Charges against him were dismissed for lack of evidence.
Ronald Reagan
Reagan assassination attempt
On March 30, 1981, following a speaking engagement in Washington, D.C., Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr. as Reagan was returning to his limousine. He recovered quickly due to prompt medical attention.
George H. W. Bush
April 13, 1993: Sixteen men, in the alleged employment of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, smuggled a car bomb into Kuwait with the intent of killing Bush as he spoke at Kuwait University. The plot was foiled when Kuwaiti officials found the bomb and arrested the suspected assassins. Bush had left office in January 1993. On 26 June 1993, the U.S. launched a missile attack targeting Baghdad intelligence headquarters in retaliation for the attempted attack against Bush. The Iraqi Intelligence Service, particularly Directorate 14, was accused of being behind the plot.
Bill Clinton
First assassination attempt
September 12, 1994: Frank Eugene Corder flew a single engine Cessna into the White House lawn, apparently trying to hit the White House. The President and First Family were not home at the time. Corder was the only casualty.
Second assassination attempt
October 29, 1994: Francisco Martin Duran fired at least 29 shots with a semi-automatic rifle at the White House from a fence overlooking the north lawn, thinking that Clinton was among the men in dark suits standing there (Clinton was in the White House Residence watching a football game). A tourist named Harry Rakosky tackled Duran before he could injure anyone. George W. Bush
First assassination attempt
February 7, 2001: While President George W. Bush was occupied in the White House Residence, Washington, DC, Robert Pickett, standing outside the perimeter fence, discharged a number of shots from a weapon in the direction of the White House. The incident ended when a Secret Service officer shot Pickett, resulting in an injury which required hospital surgery. Pickett was found to have a history of emotional problems and employment grievances. Lacking conclusive evidence that Mr. Bush was a personal target (although the accused had indeed written to the President on the subject of his grievances), a court in July 2001 sentenced Pickett to three years in jail in connection with the incident.
Second assassination attempt
May 10, 2005: While President George W. Bush was giving a speech in the Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, Vladimir Arutyunian threw a live Soviet-made RGD-5 hand grenade towards the podium where he was standing and where Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and their two wives and officials were seated. The grenade was live and had its pin pulled, but did not explode because a red tartan handkerchief wrapped tightly around the grenade kept the firing pin from deploying quickly enough.
Presidential deaths rumored to be assassinations
Zachary Taylor
Warren G. Harding

[parsifal]

tell me there isnt a pattern happening here....

[Bluehawk]

Originally Posted by Njaco

oh, no Blue, you mean that dirty, lying Bush was able to possibly save Obama's life?? Oh what is this world coming to when a man can distort and ruin and destroy the Constitution just to save lives! Oh, the horror.

[Bluehawk]

Originally Posted by parsifal

tell me there isnt a pattern happening here....

THE point is that there is NO pattern.