http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36075836...me_and_courts/
ADRIAN, Mich. - Nine suspects tied to a Christian militia in the Midwest were charged Monday with conspiring to kill police officers, then attack a funeral in the hopes of killing more law enforcement people, federal prosecutors said.
Members of the group called Hutaree are charged in the case, including its leader, David Brian Stone. The suspects included six people from Michigan, two from Ohio and one from Indiana, officials said.
Once other officers gathered for the slain officer's funeral, the group planned to detonate homemade bombs with projectiles, killing more, the newly unsealed court papers revealed.
The charges follow FBI raids over the weekend on locations in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.
The raids were prompted by Hutaree plans to stage "a covert reconnaissance operation for April which had the potential of placing an unsuspecting member of the public at risk," said Barbara McQuade, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.
According to investigators, the Hutaree view local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel as a "brotherhood" and an enemy, and planned to attack them as part of an armed struggle against the U.S. government.
"It is believed by the Hutaree that this engagement would then serve as a catalyst for a more widespread uprising against the government," court documents said.
Eight suspects have been arrested by the FBI, and one more is being sought. Seven suspects appearedly briefly in court in Detroit on Monday and were ordered held without bond until a hearing on Wednesday.
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Plot to kill cops?
March 29: Nine suspects tied to a Christian militia in the Midwest are charged with conspiring to kill police officers. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
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Prosecuters said Stone, the militia leader, downloaded information about how to build explosive devices from the Internet and e-mailed diagrams of them to someone he believed was capable of making them, NBC reported.
He then directed his son and others to begin gathering the needed materials. Stone was charged, along with his wife and two sons. One son, Joshua Stone, remained a fugitive.
The Detroit News quoted Donna Stone, the ex-wife of Stone, as saying his growing radicalism was a factor in their divorce three years ago.
"You pray as a family, you stay together as a family," the News report Stone as saying. "When he got carried away, when he went from handguns to big guns, it's like, now I'm done."
'Extremist fringe'
Andrew Arena, head of the FBI's field office in Detroit, said the case "is an example of radical and extremist fringe groups which can be found throughout our society. 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."
FBI spokesman Scott Wilson said agents arrested two people Saturday after raids in two towns in Ohio. A third arrest was made in northeast Illinois on Sunday, a day after a raid took place just over the border in northwest Indiana.
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, 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.'"
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So, do y'all think they have Palin bumper stickers and watch Beck regularly?