© 2024 KGOU
News and Music for Oklahoma
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Obama Assassination Plot Thwarted

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

Like so many elections, this fall's campaign has stirred intense emotions. But it's rare to find a plot as extreme as one described by prosecutors in Tennessee.

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

They say a pair of neo-Nazis planned to rob a gun store. One was 20 years old, the other 18. They allegedly wanted to kill exactly 88 African-Americans and decapitate exactly 14 more.

INSKEEP: Numbers that allegedly mean something to white supremacists. As a final act, authorities say the men wanted to kill Barack Obama in a drive-by shooting. And they allegedly agreed to commit these acts while dressed in white tuxedos and top hats.

MONTAGNE: Officials say they took the alleged plots seriously, but they add that the Democratic presidential candidate was never in any real danger. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

More News
Support nonprofit, public service journalism you trust. Give now.