Two U.S. men charged in plot to kill Obama

Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinate  Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D- Ill. and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a  Tennessee murder spree, the ATF said Monday Oct. 27, 2008. In court records unsealed Monday, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a  predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi  skinheads. The men, Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., and Paul Schlesselman 18, of West Helena, Ark., are being held  without bond.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

"We take this very, very seriously but we see no evidence these guys have the ability or the wherewithal to pull off what they say they wanted to do," an official was quoted by the CNN as saying.

Cowart and Schlesselman were arrested in Tennessee, after an aborted robbery attempt last week.

They made their initial appearances before a federal judge Monday and are scheduled for a bond hearing Thursday.

Obama, an Illinois Democrat, is the first African-American nominee to lead a major-party ticket and was placed under Secret Service protection in May 2007, far earlier than other candidates.

His campaign declined to comment on the case.

Threats against Obama have led to arrests in two previous cases.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei