Teen pleads guilty to plotting Obama’s assassination

According to the Federal officials in Washington, Schlesselman threatened to kill Obama on Oct. 23, 2008. The election fervor was high, and Obama was chosen as the president the very next month.

Allegedly, investigators were present around the scene when the threat was made and they arrested Schlesselman along with another man on weapons charges. Schlesselman had met Daniel Cowart of Tennessee on the Internet and the two reportedly conspired together against African-Americans.

The very next day, federal charges were filed against Schlesselman and Cowart, and the two were detained without bail.

Plan for Obama’s assassination
They were described as white supremacist skinheads, who formulated a plan for cross-country robbery-and-killing spree in 2008 that was to finish with the assassination of Obama.

In federal court Schlesselman pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy, threatening to kill and inflict bodily harm on a presidential candidate, and of possessing a firearm in promotion of a crime of violence.

Paul Schlesselman, under a plea agreement with prosecutors, may have to serve 10 years in prison for the crimes, including the illegal transport of firearms. He is scheduled to be sentenced in April. Cowart, however, pleaded not guilty to charges.

Joe Bird, a lawyer for the 21-year-old Cowart, claimed that his client “disavows any affiliation or participation in a hate crime basis of belief and that has been the case since his incarceration 14 months ago.”

He added that Cowart had “made a combination of egregious mistakes and ended up on a road he shouldn't have been on but he's reverted back to what the true Mr. Cowart is: a man who believes in the Christian faith” and would not intentionally harm anyone.

Racially-targeted violence
Explaining the entire plan during his plea hearing, Schlesselman said that he carried an unregistered short-barreled shotgun and a .357 magnum caliber handgun from Arkansas to Tennessee, with an aim of killing several innocent people at an African-American school.

However, it was not clear how they intended to kill Obama, who was not in Tennessee then and neither had any plans of visiting.

According to the Justice Department, the plan was to “murder dozens of people with a focus on murdering African-Americans.”

Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for Civil Rights, said, “Despite great civil rights progress, hate-fueled violence remains all too common in our country, as illustrated by this unthinkable conspiracy.”