St Davids (Pennsylvania): Two white supremacists have been arrested for threatening to kill Barack Obama in a chilling twist revealed by officials as the race for the White House headed for its final six days. Daniel Cowart, 20,and Paul Schlesselman, 18, were arrested last week in Tennessee for possession of firearms, threats against a candidate running for president and conspiring to rob a gun store, the Department of Justice said.
The men began "discussing going on a killing spree that included killing 88 people and beheading 14 African Americans," Brian Weaks, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told a Memphis court Monday.
"They further stated that their final act of violence would be to attempt to assassinate presidential candidate Barack Obama," he added, as the two men appeared before the federal court.
The case is likely to heighten fears for Democrat candidate Obamas safety as he bids to defeat Republican opponent John McCain to become the first black US president in history in next Tuesdays elections.
He is already under secret service protection having received it much earlier in the campaign than any other presidential candidate. His campaign team declined to comment on the news.
It's not over yet: Obama The White House rivals were to hold competing rallies Tuesday in the rust-belt state of Pennsylvania before splitting, with McCain fighting a rearguard action in North Carolina and Obama on the attack in Virginia.
Despite holding a robust poll lead, Obama warned against complacency as he prepared to air a costly 30-minute infomercial on major US networks Wednesday evening. "Do not believe for a second this election is over," the Illinois senator said Monday in Pittsburgh, whose withered steelworks are symptomatic of Pennsylvania's industrial blight.
McCain on the offensive For McCain, Pennsylvania and its swollen ranks of disaffected, white, working-class voters is must-win territory on November 4, along with historically Republican bastions such as North Carolina and Virginia. He tried to reignite fears of "socialism" by citing a 2001 radio interview given by Obama where he appeared to lament the failure of the 1960s civil rights movement to bring about greater financial equality.
