Many of the individuals posting on extremist forums imply or state directly that Obama will not survive his run for the presidency. Also in these posts, extremists angry over the Obama campaign threaten violence against the black community. Some extremists have gone from the Internet to planning action against Obama.
White supremacists' plot to kill Obama
In late October 2008, authorities arrested two white supremacists, Daniel Cowart, of Tennessee, and Paul Schlesselman, of Arkansas, for allegedly planning a "killing spree" that would involve assassinating Obama and killing 102 others. Cowart and Schlesselman met on the Internet and apparently decided to translate a virtual alliance into real-world action. Cowart had recently been involved with Supreme White Alliance, a hardcore racist skinhead group with members from several states, mostly in the Midwest.
Authorities charged the white supremacists with possessing an unregistered firearm, conspiring to steal firearms from a federally licensed gun dealer, and threats against a major candidate for the office of president. Court documents indicated the two suspects discussed a multi-state killing and robbing spree, including targeting a predominantly African-American school. The murder spree would allegedly end with an attempt to assassinate Obama with a high-powered rifle.
Images of violence against Obama
In October 2008, on the forum of the neo-Nazi skinhead group, Hammerskin Nation, "wc_skin" predicted that Obama will be killed. He stated, "i [sic] think someone will shoot him hopefully from a book suppository building wouldn't that be funny..[sic] but we have all seen what a pissed off marine and his rifle can accomplish."
On the same forum,"Bald Bastard 1488" responded to predictions that Obama will not be assassinated. He wrote, "Sad to say, Youre [sic] probably right about that asshole not getting whacked."
Also in October, Mike Lunsford, a Fairfield, Ohio resident and avowed white supremacist, made an overt demonstration of his racist views regarding Obama. Lunsford hung a ghost featuring Obama's name and the word "Hussain," a misspelled form of Obama's middle name, from a noose on a tree. Following public attention and condemnation, Lunsford reportedly moved the racist display from the tree to a spot next to his porch.
Neo-Nazi Bill White entitled the September 2008 issue of his magazine "Kill this Ni—ger?" The cover of the magazine features a picture of Barack Obama pictured through a rifle scope with a swastika surrounding it.
Also in September, an individual calling himself "MrWidowmaker" posted a message to Stormfront, predicting that if Obama is elected, the black community will riot, and Obama will be assassinated by "one of the true patriots of our country." He wrote, "I think the nigs will riot. But I also think that if Obongo is elected he'll be taken out by one of the true patriots in our country. So the nigs will riot at such time anyways. So either way prepare yourselves."
In July 2008, an individual posting to VNN wrote about a speech by Obama, which a CNN article described as addressing "the burning anger among the nation's poor African-Americans." The VNN poster commented, "Bring it on Obamas. I have rope, trees, shotgun, carbine, .380 and plenty of shells to go around Come for the TNB [typical ni--er behavior], stay for the decomposition."
In June 2008, Tyrranicide, a racist blog, began to allude openly to the assassination of Obama as in evident in this section of a longer post:
I'd give almost even money: when somebody finally parts Hussein's nappy hair with a bullet, if it isn't someone hired by Hillary, it will be some wasted street coon from a D.C. gang or some other "disillusioned Affikin-Amurkin" who has finally realized that Brother Barry has sold de cullud folks down the river.
On a thread titled "Obama Assassination: Where Will You be?" posted to the VNN forum in June 2008, "yankee jane" focused not just on an assassination attempt on Obama but his wife, as well, and made insidious allusions to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln:
Maybe his wife will even get hit with a bullet ... this is good. Maybe the more they talk about the Obongo assassination, the juicier a target he could become for a sniper looking to put a historical notch on his belt ... we can only hope he won't wait until the elections! Who doesn't know John Wilkes Booth? Its [sic] a REAL opportunity for the right person!
That same month, another poster to VNN, named "matthew," wrote, "f--- that dirty banana eating ni--er! he'll get my guns over my dead body! if ever there was a reason to hate this ni--er, this is it. ill [sic] be glad when he's pushing up daisy's [sic]." On Stormfront, an individual wrote also in June, "That's ALL we need .. [sic] another dead negro day...That's the day all the white people show up and get to work without coons to slow things down..."
