The recent arrest of members of a Michigan based Militia group has focused attention again on the right wing. The so-called violent actions of the Tea Party movement failed to gain much traction so now we have the Justice Department bringing action against this militia group. I know nothing of this group, other than what as been released by Eric Holders Justice Department. If the charges are true, then this is a very extreme group and they should be prosecuted. Generally militia groups do not target local police, some do however put their cross-hairs on federal authorities. Neither is acceptable!The danger, the real danger here is not so much this specific militia group, although they do appear to have been a threat from the information released by the feds, but the tendency of the federal government to over-reach and paint those groups on the right with a broad brush and turn events such as this into a witch hunt to pursue other groups who are not a threat to national security. I saw this happen first hand in the 1960's during the LBJ years following his land side election in 1964. He felt that election gave him a green light to attack and destroy those he saw as enemies, not so much of the state, but of his personal agenda. I fear that Barack Obama and Eric Holder will do the same. And that incidents such as this will only be a first step in what will become a much wider attack on right wings groups who do not present a danger to life and are certainly NOT a clear and present danger to the nation. This event did not happen in a vacumn so we must view it in the context of the current political landscape and ask ourselves, why now!
The FBI conducted weekend raids in three states and arrested eight people tied to a Michigan-based militia group that authorities say was conspiring to kill police officers.
Mar. 28: Michigan State Police guard a home in Clayton after the FBI raided the home of a suspected militia leader.
WASHINGTON -- Nine suspects tied to a militia in the Midwest are charged with conspiring to kill police officers, then attack a funeral in the hopes of killing more law enforcement people, federal prosecutors said Monday.
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said agents moved on the group because the Hutaree members were planning a violent reconnaissance mission sometime in April -- just a few days away.
Members of the group called Hutaree are charged in the case, including their leader, David Brian Stone, also known as "Captain Hutaree."
Once other officers gathered for a slain officer's funeral, the group planned to detonate homemade bombs at the funeral, killing more, according to newly unsealed court papers.
The indictment includes charges of seditious conspiracy, possessing a firearm during a crime of violence, teaching the use of explosives, and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction -- homemade bombs.
The indictment charges members of the group conspired "to levy war against the United States, (and) to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States."
The charges follow FBI raids over the weekend on locations in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.
According to investigators, the purportedly Christian Hutaree militia 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.
Eight suspects have been arrested by the FBI, and one more is being sought. Of the eight captured, seven are due in court later Monday.
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". Read more at FOX News
