Two young skinheads in Tennessee were arrested for plotting to kill dozens of black people, including presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Federal officials described the scheme as “serious,” but the two believers in “white power” didn’t get very far with it, according to court documents. The two - Paul Schlesselman, 18, of West Helena, Ark., and Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn. – purchased some rifles, cased a home and a gun store to rob.

The two men reportedly acknowledged to interrogators the fact that they were planning to assassinate Senator Obama. They were planning to drive their vehicle as fast as they could toward the senator shooting at him from the windows, the affidavit wrote. It wasn’t clear whether the two skinheads had picked a place for the attack.

However, the assassination of the presidential candidate would have been the last one, a culmination of a “killing spree” that would have included black children at a predominantly black school. According to the affidavit, the two troubled youngsters talked of “killing 88 people and beheading 14 African-Americans.”

The two Tennessee residents were charged with making threats against a presidential candidate, illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun and conspiracy to rob a gun dealer.

According to the affidavit filed in federal court in Jackson, Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman met over the internet through a mutual friend. The numbers 88 and 14 have a strong significance for the two neo Nazis. 88 is shorthand for “Heil, Hitler” because H is the eight letter of the alphabet, while 14 signifies a 14-word mantra among “white power” adepts:

“We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”

“We honestly don’t know if they had the capability or the wherewithal to carry out the kind of plan that they talked about. But we take any threat seriously no matter how big or how small it is,” said a spokesman for the Washington Secret Service.