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| FBI Arrests in Midwest May Have Targeted Christian Militia |
| 2010-03-29 |
| The FBI said Sunday that agents conducted weekend raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio and arrested at least three people, and a militia leader in Michigan said the target of at least one of the raids was a Christian militia group. Federal warrants were sealed, but a federal law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said some of those arrested face gun charges and officials are pursuing other suspects. FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said there had been activity in two southeast Michigan counties near the Ohio state line. She wouldn't say whether they were tied to the raids in the other states. FBI spokesman Scott Wilson in Cleveland said agents arrested two people Saturday after raids in two Ohio towns. A third arrest made in northeast Illinois on Sunday stemmed from a raid Saturday just over the border in northwest Indiana, both part of an ongoing investigation led by the FBI in Michigan, according to a statement from agents in Illinois. George Ponce, 18, who works at a pizzeria next door to a home raided in Hammond, Ind., said he and a few co-workers stepped outside for a break Saturday night and saw a swarm of law enforcement. "I heard a yell, 'Get back inside!' and saw a squad member pointing a rifle at us," Ponce said. "They told us the bomb squad was going in, sweeping the house looking for bombs." He said another agent was in the bushes near the house, and law enforcement vehicles were "all over." He estimated that agents took more than two dozen guns from the house. Michael Lackomar, a spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, said one of his team leaders got a frantic phone call Saturday evening from members of Hutaree, a Christian militia group, who said their property in southwest Michigan was being raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "They said they were under attack by the ATF and wanted a place to hide," Lackomar said. "My team leader said, 'no thanks.' " The team leader was cooperating with the FBI on Sunday, Lackomar said. He said SMVM wasn't affiliated with Hutaree, which states on its Web site to be "prepared to defend all those who belong to Christ and save those who aren't." "We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ," the group's Web site said. "Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment. An e-mail sent to the group by The Associated Press wasn't returned Sunday, and phone numbers for the group's leadership were not immediately available. Berchtold, the FBI spokeswoman in Michigan, said she couldn't confirm if the raids were connected to Hutaree. Lackomar said none of the raids focused on his group. Lackomar said about eight to 10 members of Hutaree trained with SMVM twice in the past three years. SMVM holds monthly training sessions focusing on survival training and shooting practice, Lackomar said. In Michigan, police swarmed a rural, wooded property around 7 p.m. Saturday outside Adrian, about 70 miles southwest of Detroit, said Evelyn Reitz, who lives about a half-mile away. She said several police cars, with lights flashing, were still there Sunday evening and 15 to 20 officers were stationed in the area. Neighbor Jane Cattell said she came home from the movies Saturday night and a helicopter was circling above, its spotlight illuminating her house. She and her sister, Sarah Holtz, wouldn't say who lived in the home but said they knew them from riding their horses past their house. "They're your average, nice neighbors," Holtz said. There were rumors about ties to a militia, but Holtz she knew nothing of that from her interaction with them. One of the raids in Ohio occurred at Bayshore Estates, a trailer park in Sandusky, a small city on Lake Erie between Toledo and Cleveland, park manager Terry Mills said. Authorities blocked off the street for about an hour Saturday night, he said. "Needless to say, this has everyone talking," said Mills, 62. "We have a lot of retirees here who don't want all this commotion." Mills said he didn't know the identity of the person arrested. FBI agents in Ohio also made an arrest in Huron on Saturday night, Wilson said. No further information would be released until after they appeared in court Monday, he said. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #6 This would explain why all those guys in trench coats kept knocking on the door. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-03-29 19:01 |
| #5 The group placed under arrest do look like a rather dim collection of bulbs. I suspect we'll be learning more in the days and weeks to come. Thank God there were no shots fired and no mothers holding infants blown into eternity. I'd not be at all surprised to learn that the Bureau and ATF have executed another brilliantly conceived cock-up. Their record of achievement in matters such as this is somewhat less than noteworthy. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-03-29 18:57 |
| #4 I'm surprised Janet Reno wasn't called out of retirement to burn em out. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-03-29 14:19 |
| #3 Update: Nine arrestees were up in front of a judge at 10 a.m.: In a federal indictment, the government says the group is an anti-government, extremist organization that planned war with the United States. It is also alleged that the group wanted to kill members of law enforcement. Federal charges include Seditious Conspiracy, Attempt to Use Weapons of Mass Destruction, Teaching/Demonstrating Use of Explosive Materials and two counts of Carrying, Using and Posessing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence. The Detroit News has a lot of detail: Nine members of a Lenawee County-based militia group were planning to "levy war" against the United States and "oppose by force" the nation's government, according to an indictment unsealed this morning in U.S. District Court in Detroit. The five-count indictment alleges that between August 2008 and the present, the defendants were trying to use bombs and other weapons to oppose the U.S. government. They had plans to kill a local law enforcement official and, once officers from across the country came to the funeral, to attack the funeral procession, the indictment alleges. The eight men and one woman are members of the Hutaree, identified as an "anti-government extremist organization" in the indictment, and each faces three to five charges, including sedition, attempts to use weapons of mass destruction, teaching/demonstrating use of explosive materials and two counts of carrying weapons in relation to a crime of violence. A scouting mission was planned for April and, if someone had stumbled upon the mission, the Hutaree decided they could be killed, according to the indictment. It was this mission that prompted the raids, said Barbara McQuade, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Although there had been reports the Hutaree may have targeted Muslims, there is no mention in the indictment of any threats against them. Articles written late yesterday on the subject included the following, which seems to have gotten lost today: Mike Lackomar, of Michiganmilitia.com, said both The Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia and the Michiganmilitia.com were not a part of the raid. Lackomar said he heard from other militia members that the FBI targeted the Hutaree after its members made threats of violence against Islamic organizations. One of the Hutaree members called a Michigan militia leader for assistance Saturday after federal agents had already began their raid, Lackomar said, but the militia member -- who is of Islamic decent [other articles said simply that the man is Muslim] and had heard about the threats -- declined to offer help. Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on Islamic-American Relations of Michigan, made an announcement Sunday during the group's 10th anniversary banquet about receiving a call from a network journalist about the alleged threat against Muslims. "Don't allow this news to scare you away from practicing your faith," said Walid. Audible gaps were heard throughout the banquet hall when the news was announced. Walid said he will call local authorities about more information on the allegations. He urged local Muslims to recommitt themselves to their faith in light of the accusations. Elsewhere I read that the Right Reverend Jesse Jackson was speaking to the group when the call came in. But that may just be a rumour. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-03-29 12:49 |
| #2 Meanwhile, no word from the Bureau on Fort Hood shooter MAJ Hasan, what they knew about him, or when they knew it. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-03-29 11:23 |
| #1 I thought we were at war with radical muslims. Christians? Amish are next? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-03-29 11:11 |