Police arrest suspects in plot to kill Obama in Denver

DENVER -- Police in Colorado have arrested four suspects in a possible plot to assassinate Senator Barack Obama.

Police picked up Tharin Robert Gartrell, 28, on Sunday in a routine traffic stop in the Denver suburb of Aurora and found a cache of suspicious weapons and other items that led to an investigation into the plot. 

The FBI is also investigating reports that Gartrell may have made threats against Barack Obama, according to the Associated Press.

The four men arrested all allegedly have times to white supremacist groups and planned to pull off the assassination on Thursday night when Barack Obama speaks outdoors at Invesco Field here in Denver.

Despite the public nature of the threat, federal officials dismissed the significance of the threat. "We're absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention or the people of Colorado," U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said in a statement.

One government official described the suspects as possibly "nothing but a bunch of knuckleheads" or "meth heads," and a Denver law enforcement official told the New York Daily News, "These are not the smartest guys in the world."

After picking up Gartrell on Sunday, who was reportedly driving a rented pickup truck erratically, police found two high-powered rifles in the vehicle, camouflage clothing, walkie-talkies, a bulletproof vest, fake licenses and illegal drugs.

Police later tracked down Shawn Robert Adolf, 33, who tried to flee by jumping out of a sixth-floor window and broke his ankle.  A third suspect, Nathan Johnson, 32, was arrested at a motel in the area along with an unidentified woman.