Wiesenthal Center Statement on White Supremacist Plot to Assassinate Senator Obama and Murder African Americans

WIESENTHAL CENTER STATEMENT ON WHITE SUPREMACIST PLOT TO ASSASSINATE SENATOR OBAMA AND MURDER AFRICAN AMERICANS

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, who actively monitors Internet and Web 2.0 activities of domestic and international terrorist groups, said that the plot by two skinheads to launch a killing spree targeting African-Americans and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is an example how the Internet is used as a marketplace of ideas for extremists. According to the ATF report, the skinheads had met via the Internet. Reports say that 88 African Americans would be targeted and that 14 of them would be decapitated.

"The fact that the potential mass murder was keyed to the numbers 14 and 88 is proof that whoever was involved in this plot were, like the late David Lane who wrote the 14 word racist credo were motivated by a desire to ignite a race war," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center. David Lane was a member of the Order, a white supremacist terrorist group active in the 1980s. 88 is white supremacist code for HH or Heil Hitler. Lane’s 14 word credo, long cited by white supremacists is: We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.

"Unfortunately these hateful 14 words find fertile ground in numerous hate sites on the Internet," said Cooper. "While we don't know many details, we can all thank the ATF for thwarting the murder of young African Americans and a possible assassination attempt against Senator Obama," he concluded.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States.
It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, and the Council of Europe. The Center’s findings on Internet activities of terrorist and hate groups are published annually in its Digital Terrorism & Hate CD-ROM report.

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036.