Militia members charged with plotting to kill cops

WASHINGTON — Nine members of a Michigan-based
anti-government militia that proudly posted its military exercises on
the Internet and allegedly plotted to kill police officers were
indicted in Detroit Monday on conspiracy and weapons charges.

Federal authorities portrayed the group as being
extreme in its views and potentially dangerous, but they did not
suggest they were part of larger movement.

The indictment said the Hutaree, who describe
themselves as “Christian warriors,” viewed all law enforcement as their
enemy. It said they had planned a violent act to get the attention of
the police, possibly by killing an officer at a traffic stop, and then
attacking the funeral procession with explosives.

Federal agents said the small group of extremists
hoped to trigger a military clash with the government. In recent
months, its members had conducted military exercises with live
ammunition, and they made efforts to obtain materials for bombs that
could be used as “weapons of mass destruction.” The group also had
discussed carrying out an attack in April, the authorities said.

The arrests of the Hutaree members comes amid what the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama
non profit that tracks extremism, has called “an explosion of new
extremist groups and activism across the nation.” The organization has
cited the economic downturn as a major reason for the change, and also
contends that the far-right has been particularly animated by the
election of the nation’s first black president.

Those groups “came roaring back after years out of the limelight,” SPLC director Mark Potok said.

The group’s activities were hardly a secret. It
maintained a Web site with videos of its men slogging through the woods
and playing war games in their military attire. Prosecutors also said
Stone, the groups’ leader, used the Internet to obtain information on
explosives.

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said
federal agents moved to arrest the members of the group over the
weekend rather than wait for them to attack an innocent person. The
indictment accuses the nine of conspiring “to levy war against the United States.”

“The safety of the public and of the law enforcement community demanded intervention at this time,” McQuade said.

Government officials said they were uncertain of the group’s motives and aims.

“This is an example of racial and extremist fringe groups which can be found throughout our society,” said Andrew Arena, the FBI Special Agent in charge. “The FBI
takes such extremist groups seriously, especially those who would
target innocent citizens and the law enforcement officers who protect
the citizens of the United States.”

The leader of the group was among eight persons taken into custody. He is David Brian Stone, 45, of Clayton, Mich. Also indicted were his wife Tina, 44, and two sons, Joshua, 21, and David Jr., 19, of Adrian, Mich.

The FBI said they have not arrested Joshua Stone,
who is classified as a fugitive. The federal charges include seditious
conspiracy against the government, attempted use of a weapon of mass
destruction and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.

It was apparent that the FBI had been monitoring the group for some time. The indictment says they had met on Feb. 20 in Lenawee County in Eastern Michigan to plan further operations.

The Hutaree wore uniforms with the letters CCR, which stood for Colonial Christian Republic. Their members stood out as being extremists even among other militia activists in eastern Michigan.

“They are too extreme or radical for us,” Jim Gulliksen, a coordinator of the Volunteer Michigan Militia, told The Detroit News.
“I just kind of got a bad feeling about the group, and we did not want
to associate with them. They are a little too paranoid for me.”

The group’s Web site, hutaree.com, describes its philosophy.

“We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there
will be an Anti-Christ,” the site says. “All Christians must know this
and prepare, just as Christ commanded. … Jesus wanted us to be ready
to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment.”

The site features video clips, rather typical among
the militia movement, of camouflage-clad citizen warriors, firing
weapons and running around in the woods. But unlike some militias,
which emphasize the Second Amendment (right to bear arms) and other
constitutional rights, the Hutaree pepper their site with a mix of
biblical references and conspiratorial language.

One blog post on the Hutaree site argues that
government unemployment checks are “critical for the government to
starve off revolution.” A section called “Beast Watch” warns against
the “10 Horns of the European Super State.” Private forums are labeled
Weapons (with the subheading, “The things you kill with”); Chaplain’s
Corner (“Resistance to tyranny is obediance(sic) to God”); and Evil Jew Forum.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Alabama
non-profit that tracks anti-government and extremist groups, first
became aware of the group last year, when researchers discovered its
myspace page. In February, the SPLC included two chapters of the
Hutaree, in Utah and Michigan, on its list of militia groups released in February.

The SPLC, in a spring report, noted an “explosion of
new extremist groups and activism” fueled by “broad-based populist
anger at political, demographic and economic changes in America.” The
group identified 512 active “Patriot” groups in 2009. The group defines
Patriot groups as those that “engage in groundless conspiracy
theorizing, or advocate or adhere to extreme antigovernment doctrines.”

Some other members of the militia movement distanced themselves from Hutaree Monday.

“They talk about fighting the antichrist and things like that,” said Michael Vanderboegh,
a former militia member and leading voice of the constitutionalist
militia movement in a phone interview. “I’m a Christian, OK? But that’s
so far around the bend I can’t see that bend from here.”

Among those charged in the alleged plot is Thomas Piatek, 46, of Whiting, Ind. He was arrested Sunday at an apartment complex in the Chicago suburb of Clarendon Hills.

During his arraignment before a magistrate in Hammond, Ind., Piatek said he had not committed any crimes and that agents had arrested the wrong man.

Tuesday morning, Bruce Yager, 53, who lives down the street from Piatek’s Whiting home, said he was carrying a crockpot of food on his way out Saturday when he was ordered back inside his home because the FBI was raiding the home of his longtime neighbor.

He said he saw about 30 law enforcement vehicles remain on the block from about 5:30 p.m. to midnight.

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(c) 2010, Tribune Co.

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