Legal Commentary

Extremist Christian Group Members Charged in Detroit

By Jeralyn

Nine people arrested over the weekend believed to be connected to an extremist Christian Militia have been charged in federal court in Detroit.

Nine members of a Michigan-based Christian militia group have been indicted on sedition and weapons charges in connection with an alleged plot to murder law enforcement officers in hopes of setting off an anti-government uprising.

In court filings unsealed Monday, the Justice Department accused the nine people of planning to kill an unidentified law enforcement officer, then plant improvised explosive devices of a type used by insurgents in Iraq to attack the funeral procession.

The Indictment (available here) was returned on March 23 and unsealed today. According to the Times: [More...]

The indictment charged that between August 2008 and the present, the defendants — led by David Brian Stone, 45, who also used the name “Captain Hutaree” — developed a conspiracy that they hoped would result in a war against the United States government. They allegedly decided they would kill a local law enforcement officer, and then bomb the funeral caravan. The killings “would intimidate and demoralize law enforcement diminishing their ranks and rendering them ineffective,” it said.

Afterward, the indictment said, Hutaree members would retreat to several “rally points” and wage war against the government, using prepared fighting positions as well as “trip-wired and command-detonated” bombs.

The indictment alleges that the group believed these actions would serve as a "catalyst for a more wide-spread uprising against the government.”

The charges include seditious conspiracy, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence. One man and his son were also charged with teaching the use of explosives.

In plain English, the Indictment says the group planned to kill a law enforcement officer- such as after a traffic stop -- or by ambushing him at home -- or by making a phony 911 call and killing him when he responded, and then, attacking his funeral procession with bombs. It alleges the group believed these acts would demoralize police and render them ineffective. The group would then start a war with explosives and weapons against the Government.

The first defendant named, David Stone, aka Captain Hutaree, allegedly was to kill the law enforcement officer. When all the other officers had gathered for his funeral, the group planned to strike with bombs and IED's.

The group planned a recon mission for April, and authorities, believing innocent persons encountering the mission could be endangered, acted now to arrest them.

Hutaree is an extremist Christian militia group. Here's their doctrine. They are "preparing for the end of time to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive."

Earlier post on this weekend's arrests is here.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 29, 2010 (boomark / email).