( CNN ) -- Federal prosecutors charged two men with plotting a `` killing spree '' against African-Americans that would have been capped with an attempt to kill Sen. Barack Obama while they wore white tuxedos , federal officials said Monday . Paul Schlesselman , left , and Daniel Cowart said they planned to kill more than 100 African-Americans . The U.S. attorney 's office in Jackson , Tennessee , said Daniel Cowart , 20 , and Paul Schlesselman , 18 , were self-described white supremacists who met online through a mutual friend . Both men have been charged with illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun , conspiracy to rob a federally licensed gun dealer and making threats against a presidential candidate . The men planned to kill more than 100 African-Americans , including 14 who would be beheaded , according to the affidavit . But federal law enforcement sources said there was no evidence Cowart , of Bells , Tennessee , and Schlesselman , of West Helena , Arkansas , had any details of Obama 's schedule . `` We take this very , very seriously but we see no evidence these guys have the ability or the wherewithal to pull off what they say they wanted to do , '' one law enforcement source said . According to an affidavit from the federal agent who questioned them , Cowart and Schlesselman planned to charge at Obama with a car , firing from the windows as they went . They would be dressed in white tuxedos and top hats during the attempt , the affidavit states . Cowart and Schlesselman were arrested outside Jackson , about 75 miles east of Memphis , Tennessee , after an aborted robbery attempt last week , according to court records . Though they told investigators they would be willing to die in their mission , the men backed out of their October 21 attempt to rob the gun dealer after spotting two cars and a dog at the home , the affidavit states . The men also shot out the window of a church on their way back to Cowart 's grandfather 's home , where they were arrested the next day . Cowart and Schlesselman made their initial appearances before a federal judge Monday and are scheduled for a bond hearing Thursday in Memphis . Obama , an Illinois Democrat , is the first African-American nominee to lead a major-party ticket and was placed under Secret Service protection in May 2007 , far earlier than other candidates . Eric Zahren , a spokesman for the Secret Service , said it was unclear whether the suspects would have had the capability or means to carry out any sort of plot . But he said the matter was being taken seriously , and a joint investigation was under way . There was no indication either had attended any Obama event or had drawn Secret Service attention in the past , Zahren said . Campaign spokeswoman Linda Douglass said , `` We never comment on security matters . '' Threats against Obama have led to arrests in two previous cases . In one , federal prosecutors concluded that the three people arrested with drugs and weapons in a suburban Denver motel posed a `` true threat '' to the candidate . In the second , a Florida man was charged with threatening bodily harm against the candidate in August . He has pleaded not guilty . CNN Chief National Correspondent John King contributed to this report .
Plans included killing 100 African - Americans , beheading 14 , officials say . Plot was to end with attempt to kill Obama while still white , police say . Law enforcement also sees no evidence men could pull off plot . Federal prosecutors charge Daniel Cowart , 18 , and Paul Williams , 17 .