Update [2010-3-29 12:37:17 by Steven D]: Copy of indictment here. It was sedition and a plot to kill police officers.
So why were all those members of a Christian Militia group arrested over the weekend? The FBI isn’t saying much, except to claim that these people were not involved in any of the recent terrorist threats against Congressional members who voted for health care reform. However, the sealed indictments are supposed to be made public later today.
One article alleges that the group called the Hutaree was involved in a plot to commit sedition (i.e, conspire to “levy war on the United States” including the following:
Nine members of Hutaree – described by authorities as an anti-government extremist organization – have been indicted on federal charges of attempting to use weapons of mass destruction.
At least one member of the group lives in Washtenaw County, and the indictment charges that group members trained in Lenawee County as they “conspired to levy war against the United States.”
The federal indictment charges that the leader of Hutaree, David Brian Stone (known as RD), was plotting to kill an unspecified member of law enforcement. It says the plan was to kill an officer and then attack law enforcement vehicles with improvised explosive devices when officers gathered for that officer’s funeral.
Other reports claim that the Hutaree made explicit threats of violence against American Islamic groups.
Charges are expected to be unsealed in federal court in Detroit on Monday. If the reported threats to Islamic organizations are confirmed, CAIR will hold a news conference on the issue later on Monday in Washington, D.C. CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com]
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said at least seven members of a Christian militia group have been arrested in FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force raids and investigations in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. According to media reports, the “Hutaree” militia was targeted after its members made threats of violence against Islamic organizations.
Either situation sounds disturbing. It also appears to me that the FBI moved so quickly against this group because they were already under surveillance, and the recent threats accelerated the FBI’s actions to take these individuals into custody.
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan said in a statement that the Hutaree had “planned a covert reconnaissance operation for April, which had the potential of placing an unsuspecting member at risk.”
Because of the risk to the public and law enforcement, it “demanded intervention at this time,” McQuade said in the statement.
According to the indictment, several local Hutaree members attempted to travel to Kentucky for a summit of militia groups on Feb. 6. David Brian Stone is accused of researching IEDs over the Internet and of soliciting a person to provide four IEDs to take to the summit, the indictment says.
The indictment also charges that members gathered materials necessary for the manufacturing of such devices. It accuses David Brian Stone and David Brian Stone Jr. of teaching other Hutaree members how to make and use explosive devices.
We’ll know soon enough.
Meanwhile, you can rest assured that Glenn Beck will claim he “knows nothing, nothing” about these potential plots by people against the safety of either Muslim Americans or law enforcement officers. That Beck’s soon to be released in June novel(tentatively titled “The Overton Window” is about a civil war against our government brought about by a group called by Founders Keepers is in no way is meant to encourage his listeners to take up arms against federal, state and local authorities he disparages on a daily basis.
Of course not. His novel is only fiction, after all. Because Glenn Beck would never try to stir up hatred against our government and it’s duly elected leaders.
Never.
Ps. Don’t forget Beck and Limbaugh rule the Republican Party. Just ask David Frum.
