There is more evidence of the lunacy of the Far Right, as reports trickle in about the nine people in a “Christian warrior” militia group, called the Hutaree, who were accused Monday of plotting to kill a Michigan law enforcement officer and then attack other police at the resulting funeral. It really shouldn’t surprise anyone that a militia group has armed themselves and is actively promoting rebellion against the Federal government.
What is surprising is that just days before the FBI arrested the nine militia members, local government reached out to the militia for help finding missing residents. Bridgewater Township Supervisor Jolea Mull twice asked local militias, including Hutaree, the group from which the nine suspects belong, to help law enforcement in their search.
“Based on what I have observed of our local militia’s efforts, I highly recommend that other municipalities coordinate with and get to know their local militia members,” Mull, a Republican, told AnnArbor.com.
Apparently Mull didn’t look very closely at the militia’s efforts.
Six Michigan residents, two residents of Ohio and an Indiana resident were indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit, Michigan, on charges of seditious conspiracy, attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, teaching the use of explosive materials and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence. The five-count indictment unsealed Monday charges that between August 2008 and the present, the defendants, acting as a Lenawee County, Michigan, militia group, conspired to use force to oppose the authority of the U.S. government.
In the “About Us” section of the Hutaree Web site, the group says, “We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ. All Christians must know this and prepare, just as Christ commanded.”
According to the indictment, Hutaree members view local, state and federal law enforcement authorities as the enemy and have been preparing to engage them in armed conflict. The indictment alleges that the Hutaree planned to kill an unidentified law enforcement officer in Michigan and then attack officers and others who would gather for the funeral. According to the plan, the indictment says, the Hutaree wanted to use improvised explosive devices to attack law enforcement vehicles during the funeral procession. The indictment says those explosive devices, commonly called IEDs, constitute weapons of mass destruction.
Subsequently, the indictment says, Hutaree leader David Brian Stone obtained information about IEDs over the Internet and e-mailed diagrams to a person he believed could manufacture them. He then had one of his sons, Joshua Matthew Stone, and others gather materials necessary to manufacture IEDs, the indictment alleges.
Two words for you. American Taliban.