Protesters planned Obama HQ attack

US: Three men have been charged with plotting to attack President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters and lob Molotov cocktails at police as days of protest heated up ahead of a NATO summit here.

Police insisted Saturday there were “no imminent threats” to the leaders of more than 50 nations set to meet at the two-day summit in Chicago.

But they were out in force to monitor the boisterous -- but so far peaceful -- protests which spread through the midwestern city in the days leading up to the summit.

A top White House official said protests and “security disruptions” were to be expected at any major summit.

“We're very confident in the ability of Chicago, together with the United States government, to have a very successful event,” Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security advisor, told reporters.

“If these more serious allegations are true, then I think it was effective work in making sure that they couldn't pose any additional threat to public security,” Rhodes said, adding he did not believe Obama had been briefed on the charges. State Attorney Anita Alvarez said police interrupted a serious plot to wreak havoc during the summit.

“They are domestic terrorists who came to Chicago with an anarchist agenda to harm our police officers, intimidate our citizens and to attack their politically motivated targets.” The three “self proclaimed anarchists” arrested in a raid Wednesday had gathered an arsenal of weapons including throwing stars, gas masks, knives, a hunting bow, a mortar gun and a shield with protruding nails, Alvarez said.

One allegedly boasted “have you ever seen a cop on fire” as they planned to destroy police cars and attack four police stations in order to undermine the response to their attacks, Alvarez said.

Some of the other proposed targets included the home of Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel and “certain downtown financial institutions,” she told reporters. Police and prosecutors dismissed the allegations of a setup and insisted they were acting swiftly to protect the public.

AFP