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Report: Two men plotted to kill Ferguson police chief, prosecutor

The two men, indicted on gun charges, also planned to blow up the Gateway Arch, according to sources.

By Mary Papenfuss
Police and National Guard battle to control demonstrators Wednesday night. UPI/Lawrence Bryant
Police and National Guard battle to control demonstrators Wednesday night. UPI/Lawrence Bryant | License Photo

FERGUSON, Mo., Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Two men indicted last week in Missouri on federal weapons charges were plotting to kill Ferguson's police chief and prosecutor, investigative sources have charged.

The men had purchased what they thought was a pipe bomb in an undercover sting operation and planned to buy two other bombs as soon as funds came through from a girlfriend of one of them, sources told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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Brandon Orlando Baldwin and Olajuwon Ali Davis first came to the attention of authorities when they allegedly lied on registration forms to purchase two Hi-Point .45-caliber pistols.

According to investigative sources, they planned to use the bombs to blow up the iconic Gateway Arch of St. Louis, and intended to kill St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch and Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson. It's not clear if they planned to use the bombs against the two officials, or if they were capable of actually carrying out any of the attacks, said the sources.

Baldwin and Davis, who spoke at a New Black Panther rally earlier this month, pleaded not guilty to gun charges earlier this week, but other charges are still pending, the sources said.

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The men's attorneys didn't respond directly to reporters concerning the weapons charges. But the New Black Panthers called the pipebomb accusations leveled last week "totally unfounded" and "trumped up and baseless." The statement also said the organization does "not teach, endorse, or allow its members to commit acts of violence against anyone."

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