heads up." Concerns were already strong about possible plots against Obama due to his status as the first African American presidential nominee for a major political party. The senator had been receiving Secret Service protection since May 2007, which was the earliest for any candidate, and authorities had already foiled an alleged assassination plot at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Histories of plotters Paul Schlesselman Paul Schlesselman is of German descent and was a high school dropout raised by a single father in Helena–West Helena, Arkansas. He hated his small Delta region hometown because of its predominantly black population. He had never had any problems with the law prior to the alleged Obama plot. He had a strong affinity for drinking and smoking. Schlesselman publicly claimed white people were the master race and would often say "Sieg Heil" and "Heil Hitler." He spoke out against Obama, saying things like, "Obama would make the world suffer." His anti-racist sister Kayla, who is two years younger than Paul, often argued with him about his racial beliefs. A few days before his arrest, a neighbor said he heard semiautomatic gunfire coming from an open field behind Schlesselman's house. After his arrest, Schlesselman's family expressed doubt that he seriously intended to carry out the plot; his father, Mike, said, "I think it's just a lot of talk. He would never do something like this." Kayla said she spoke with her brother after the charges were made public, and that Paul "said he's sorry about everything he's done." Daniel Cowart Daniel Cowart is of English descent and was raised in Bells, Tennessee. He had a strong interest in computers and had no criminal record. Cowart attended Jackson Christian School until 2006, but did not graduate. He was expelled from Jackson Christian after calling in a bomb threat. He applied for Jackson State Community College to study computers but, although his family believed he was indeed attending the school, he never provided documentation or pursued other steps to enroll there. Cowart moved to Texas in the spring of 2007 to live with friends he met on the Internet, but was unable to find work and returned to Bells to live with his grandparents a month later. Cowart worked at a Bells grocery store called the Bells Market Place for one year until May 2007 before moving to Texas for a brief time. Cowart