Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Hutaree Family Had Militia 'Chaplain' Conduct Son's Wedding
The bride wore white, but the groom -- and all of his family, including the tyke who was the ring bearer -- wore camouflage combat uniforms of a Christian militia group.
"I was really surprised. It just seemed so inappropriate," Donna Spurgeon told ABCNews.com."She was a beautiful bride and had a beautiful white dress and it seemed really odd" next to the military uniforms.
Spurgeon was referring to the March 13 wedding of Josh Stone, the last of the Christian extremist group Hutaree to be arrested in an alleged plot to kill police officers. Nine members of the Hutaree militia have been arrested.
At the center of the nine Hutaree militia are Josh Stone, his parents and his brother.
Those who have met the Stone family describe its members as socially awkward, a trait that Spurgeon said she witnessed at the youngest Stone's wedding.
Photographs were posted on a Facebook page that belongs to Karen Belcher. Belcher is a friend of the bride, Shannon Witt, and was asked to photograph the wedding. She said that most of the men at the ceremony were in full military fatigues.
Even a young ring bearer, who appears to be no more than 6 years old, was wearing the uniform.
"I knew [the Stones] were different, I just didn't know how different," said Belcher. "That was my first meeting."...
Labels: Christian militia, Hutaree, militia, Stone
Ninth Member of Hutaree Christian Militia Was in Standoff with FBI Before Turning Himself in Monday Night
The stepmother of a man charged with being part of a militia group planning to kill police says she helped talk him into surrendering during a standoff with the FBI.
Donna Stone says she recorded messages played Monday night for Joshua Matthew Stone over a loudspeaker in rural Lenawee County. Joshua Stone, 21, had been holed-up in a nearby trailer...
Labels: Christian militia, FBI, Hutaree, militia
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Feds removed evidence from his home Monday
At least one of the men arrested in a weekend raid says Feds got the wrong guy.
Thomas Piatek, 46, a truck driver from Whiting, Indiana, is one of nine alleged domestic terrorists from the group Hutaree who were indicted on charges of attempting to kill police officers with a weapon of mass destruction, among others.
Hutaree claims to be a group of Christian warriors preparing to battle the Antichrist at the end of day.
"We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ. . . . Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment," the groups web site reads.
But Piatek, who was arrested Saturday at an apartment complex in Clarendon Hills, says there must be some sort of mistake.
"I'm not that guy," he said to a judge during a pretrial hearing in Hammond, Indiana. "What they're alleging and what I've done are two different things," Piatek said in Hammond federal court according to the Northwest Indiana Times.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry ordered a special hearing to figure it out...
Labels: Christian militia, Hutaree, Indiana, Thomas Piatek
Monday, March 29, 2010
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DETROIT (AP) - Nine alleged members of a Christian militia group that was girding for battle with the Antichrist were charged Monday with plotting to kill a police officer and slaughter scores more by bombing the funeral - all in hopes of touching off an uprising against the U.S. government.
Seven men and one woman believed to be part of the Michigan-based Hutaree were arrested over the weekend in raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, and another was still being sought. Authorities blocked off a rural area Monday evening about 30 miles from the site of Saturday's raid near Adrian but wouldn't say who they were searching for or whether the search was related to the weekend raids.
FBI agents moved quickly against the group because its members were planning an attack sometime in April, prosecutors said. Authorities seized guns in the raids but would not say whether they found any explosives.
The arrests have dealt "a severe blow to a dangerous organization that today stands accused of conspiring to levy war against the United States," Attorney General Eric Holder said.
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In an indictment unsealed Monday, prosecutors said the group began military-style training in the Michigan woods in 2008, learning how to shoot guns and make and set off bombs.
David Brian Stone, 44, of Clayton, Mich., and one of his sons were identified as the ringleaders of the group. Stone, who was known as "Captain Hutaree," organized the group in paramilitary fashion and members were assigned secret names, prosecutors said. Ranks ranged from "radoks" to "gunners," according to the group's Web site.
Stone's ex-wife, Donna Stone, told The Associated Press that Stone pulled her son into the movement. Another of Stone's sons also was charged.
"It started out as a Christian thing," Donna Stone said. "You go to church. You pray. You take care of your family. I think David started to take it a little too far."
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After such attacks, the group allegedly planned to retreat to "rally points" protected by trip-wired explosives for a violent standoff with the law.
"It is believed by the Hutaree that this engagement would then serve as a catalyst for a more widespread uprising against the government," the indictment said.
The charges against the eight include seditious conspiracy - plotting to levy war against the U.S. - 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 defendants were jailed, awaiting bail hearings Wednesday.
Hutaree says on its Web site its name means "Christian warrior" and describes the word as part of a secret language that few are privileged to know. The group quotes several Bible passages and declares: "We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ. ... Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment."
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The site features a picture of 17 men in camouflage, all holding large guns, and includes videos of armed men running through the woods. Each wears a shoulder patch that bears a cross and two red spears.
David Cid, executive director of the Oklahoma City-based Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, said there has been a resurgence in the past year or two of "domestic militancy" similar to what was seen before the Oklahoma City bombing.
"It's issues like eminent domain and immigration, and apparently national health care in some quarters," said Cid, a former FBI counterterrorism agent. "It's increasing these people's ire and their discomfort with their own government."
The wife of one of the defendants described Hutaree as a small group of patriotic, Christian buddies who were just doing survival training.
"It consisted of a dad and two of his sons and I think just a couple other close friends of theirs," said Kelly Sickles, who husband, Kristopher, was among those charged. "It was supposed to be a Christian group. Christ-like, right, so why would you think that's something wrong with that, right?"
Sickles said she came home Saturday night to find her house in Sandusky, Ohio, in disarray. Agents seized the guns her husband collected as a hobby and searched for bomb-making materials, she said, but added: "He doesn't even know how to make a bomb. We had no bomb material here."
She said she couldn't believe her 27-year-old husband could be involved in anything violent.
"It was just survival skills," she said. "That's what they were learning. And it's just patriotism. It's in our Constitution."
One of the defendants expressed anti-tax views during his Monday court hearing.
Thomas W. Piatek, a truck driver from Whiting, Ind., told a federal judge he could not afford an attorney because he was "getting raped on property taxes."
The mother of another defendant, 33-year-old Jacob Ward, told police in Huron, Ohio, last summer that family members took away his two guns - an AK-47 rifle and a semiautomatic pistol - because she thought he needed mental health treatment.
Ward told police that he needed to protect himself from members of a crime family that was keeping him from his girlfried, according to Huron police records obtained by the AP. He also said he was going to meet with the CIA.
Seven of the defendants in court in Michigan asked to be represented by public defenders. The eighth had a public defender appointed in Indiana.
Labels: Christian militia, Hutaree, Michigan, militia
(CNN) -- "Captain Hutaree," his wife and two sons planned with other militia members to kill a law enforcement official to draw the officer's colleagues to the funeral, authorities say. Then, according to an indictment unsealed Monday, the militia planned to attack the funeral procession to kick off its war against the U.S. government.
Members of the Hutaree militia -- whose Web site says it is preparing for end times to "keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive" -- have been indicted on five counts, including seditious conspiracy and attempting to use weapons of mass destruction.
Federal authorities allege militia members had declared war against law enforcement and "foot soldiers" of the federal government. They had conducted "military-style training" in Lenawee County, Michigan, about 35 miles northwest of Toledo, Ohio, since 2008, the indictment said.
The group's Web site outlines the militia's philosophy: "Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment. The only thing on Earth to save the testimony and those who follow it are the members of the testimony, till the return of Christ in the clouds."
The group's leader, David Brian Stone -- aka "Joe Stonewall" or "Captain Hutaree" -- allegedly planned to kill a law enforcement officer to instigate a war against the U.S. government...
Labels: Christian militia, Hutaree, Michigan, Ohio
Webmaster: My Take On The Hutaree Militia Raids
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WhatReallyHappened.com: The FBI Allowed The 1993 WTC Bombing To Happen
CBS NEWS report about FBI foreknowledge of the World Trade Center bombing.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NewYorkTimes.com (October 28, 1993): Tapes Depict Proposal To Thwart Bomb Used In Trade Center Blast
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Evidence FBI Involvement in 1993 World Trade Center Bombing Dan Rather CBS news
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEZIhnqgcHU
Labels: Christian militia, Hutaree
(CNN) -- Nine suspected members of a militia group were charged Monday with seditious conspiracy and related charges in an alleged plot to kill a Michigan law enforcement officer and then attack other officers at his funeral, federal prosecutors said.
A federal grand jury in Detroit, Michigan, indicted six Michigan residents, two Ohioans and an Indianan 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, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade and Andrew Arena, FBI special agent in charge, announced.
The five-count indictment unsealed Monday charges that since August 2008, the defendants, acting as a Lenawee County, Michigan, militia group called the Hutaree, conspired to oppose by force the authority of the U.S. government...
Labels: Christian militia, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hutaree, Indiana, Michigan Militia, Ohio, raids
Mar 29, 12:07 PM EDT
DETROIT (AP) -- Nine suspects tied to a Midwest Christian militia that was preparing for the Antichrist were charged with conspiring to kill police officers, then attack a funeral using homemade bombs in the hopes of killing more law enforcement personnel, federal prosecutors said Monday.
The Michigan-based group, called Hutaree, planned to use the attack on police as a catalyst for a larger uprising against the government, according to newly unsealed court papers. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said agents moved on the group because its members were planning a violent reconnaissance mission sometime in April.
Members of the group, including its leader, David Brian Stone, also known as "Captain Hutaree," were charged following FBI raids over the weekend on locations in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana...
Labels: Christian militia, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hutaree, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, raids
(AP) Eight suspects arrested by the FBI this weekend were part of a plot by members of a Christian militia group to kill police officers, according to federal authorities.
According to a federal indictment unsealed this morning in Detroit, members of the Midwest group called the Hutaree had planned multiple attacks on police officers or other law enforcement personnel as a way of acting out their hatred for the government.
Weekend raids by the FBI in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana stopped the plot, authorities said, before any attacks could be carried out.
A federal grand jury has charged six Michigan residents, along with two residents of Ohio and one from Indiana, with 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 charges that between August 2008 and the present, a Lenawee County, Mich. militia group called the Hutaree was preparing to engage members of local, state, and federal law enforcement in armed conflict.
Indictment
DOJ Press Release (3.29.10)
The Hutaree allegedly planned to kill a law enforcement official in Michigan and then launch an attack against other officers gathered for the funeral procession, using Improvised Explosive Devices.
IEDs with Explosively Formed Projectiles, according to the indictment, constitute weapons of mass destruction...
Labels: Christian militia, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hutaree, raids
Leader of Michigan Militia Group Says Christian Extremists Begged for Help After FBI Raid
Investigators are expected to release more information today in the raid on a Christian militia group, with one person involved in the militia movement suggesting the shadowy group had made threats against Muslims.
"Obviously someone has a source or a wiretap or intel is coming to them in some form or fashion to trigger, 'Alright we are not going to let these guys take one step further in this operation. We are going to take them down,'" ABC News consultant and former FBI agent Brad Garrett said.
Federal officials have remained tightlipped about the three-state raid Sunday that nabbed eight people and arrest records have been sealed. Michael Lackomar, the leader of Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, a separate Michigan-based militia group, told ABC News he heard that threats toward Islamic groups made by extremist group the Hutaree may have fueled the arrests.
The suspects are due in court today.
A person claiming to be a member of the Hutaree posted a message online pleading for help and claiming that officials "broke into homes and took children and used the tasers on wives ... AND my son who is 12."
The raids were conducted Sunday in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois, federal officials confirmed to the Associated Press, though they did not mention the Hutaree specifically.
Lackomar, said several members of the Hutaree, which have trained with the SMVM on occasion, showed up on the doorstep of one of his colleagues shortly after the raid.
"They were asking for a place to hide as it were and he wasn't willing to assist them in that manner," Lackomar said.
On their Web site, the Hutaree -- which they say means "Christian warriors" -- say they are prepared to defend all those who belong to Christ and save those who aren't." A video shows members patrolling the woods with camouflage and weapons preparing for the arrival of the anti-Christ."
"The Hutaree will one day see its enemy and meet him on the battlefield if so God wills it," the Web site claims.
Militia Leader: Hutaree Like a Cult
Despite the connection between the groups, Lackomar said the Hutaree are not truly part fo the militia movement, but more like a cult.
"They believe that this is the end of the world as prophesized by the Bible and it is their duty to take up arms to fight alongside Jesus against the impending forces of Satan," he said.
"We are community-based," Lackomar said of the SMVM. "We are willing to accept anybody that lives among us that wants to protect themselves, their neighborhood, wants to help out in times of emergency."
Going after a group like the Hutaree can be dangerous, Garrett said.
"This crowd tends to be heavily armed and they are all conspiracy theorists that the government is trying to take over," he said. "And so you have to be very careful and cautious when starting arresting people like this because you can walk right into an ambush."
Lackomar said members of the Hutaree dressed identically, carried the same equipment and weapons and called themselves by biblical-sounding names.
Labels: Christian militia, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hutaree, raids
Longtime resident lived with his brother, aggressive dogs
FBI agents removed boxes of evidence and at least two dogs "trained to do bodily harm" from a house they raided over the weekend in Whiting, Indiana, according to a witness.
The target of the raid, which took place on the 1900 block of Calumet Avenue, was arrested shortly afterwards in Clarendon Hills, Illinois, according to the FBI. The suspect was described as a caucasian man who lived at the property with his brother, according to the witness.
The brothers lived there for at least six years, he said.
The agency raided the home as part of an "ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by the FBI in Detroit," believed to be linked to the radical Christian group known as the Hutaree. The members of the group whose describe themselves as Christian soldiers preparing for the arrival and battle with the anti-Christ.
Agents carried away several boxes from the home, an employee at Gusto's Pizza, which is located directly adjacent to the raided property.
The FBI agents told employees of Gusto's Pizza to remain indoors during the operation, and would not let delivery men in or out of the building. At least one FBI agent mentioned bomb-making materials and firearms were part of the raid.
FBI agents also removed two of three dogs that were considered "aggressive" and had been "trained to do bodily harm."
A resident of the street, reached for comment, said he was told "not to say anything" and would not corroborate the witnesses claims.
The FBI said no other information was available at this time, and that court documents concerning the raid were sealed.
Labels: Christian militia, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hutaree, Indiana
On Monday, federal prosecutors plan to unseal charges against members of a self-described Christian militia arrested Saturday and Sunday in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
At least seven people were taken into custody in raids by an FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force as part of an investigation into an Adrian, Mich.-based unit of the Hutaree, a group that professes it is training in modern armed combat techniques for a prophesized coming battle with the Antichrist.
Federal authorities declined to discuss the charges behind the multi-state arrests but said that the suspects are expected to make an initial appearance in US District Court in Detroit on Monday.
One of the group’s purported leaders wrote on its Web site, “Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive…. We, the Hutaree, are prepared to defend all those who belong to Christ and save those who aren’t. We will still spread the word, and fight to keep it, up to the time of the great coming.”
Via: The Daily Inquirer
Labels: Christian militia, Hutaree
Extremist militia group may be target
Authorities executed warrants over the weekend in Michigan's Lenawee and Washtenaw counties for activity that could be connected to an extremist militia organization.
Labels: Christian militia, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Michigan, Ohio
Mike Lackomar, of Michiganmilitia said “both the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia and the Michiganmilitia were not part of the raid. Lackomar said he heard from other militia members that the FBI targeted the Hutaree after its members made threats of violence against Islamic organizations.
It seems there is a dangerous under current of violent talks against various local groups in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. People are raging and resorting to methods that they think will get them results.
Labels: Christian militia, Hutaree, Michigan Militia
FBI agents have arrested seven people in a series of raids targeting a Christian militia group.
The raids took place in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio over the weekend and were reportedly carried out by the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force.
The suspects are expected to make an initial appearance in US District Court in Detroit later today.
A source close to the investigation in Washington, D.C. told the Detroit News that FBI agents were conducting activities in connection to Hutaree, a Christian militia group whose members describe themselves as Christian soldiers preparing for the arrival and battle with the anti-Christ.
WXYZ-TV reported that helicopters were spotted in the sky on Saturday night, as agents set up checkpoints throughout the area.
It wasn't clear what prompted the raids, but 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. They 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," he said. "My team leader said, 'no thanks."'
The team leader was cooperating with the FBI, Mr Lackomar said. He said SMVM wasn't affiliated with Hutaree, but a handful of Hutaree members twice attended monthly training sessions with his group that focus on survival training and shooting practice.
On its website, Hutaree quotes several Bible passages and states: "We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ. ... Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment."
On Saturday, agents swarmed a rural, wooded property belonging to the group, about 70 miles southwest of Detroit. Phyllis Brugger, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, said some people who lived there were known as having ties to militia. They would shoot guns and often wore camouflage, according to Mrs Brugger and her daughter, Heidi Wood.
"Everybody knew they were militia," she said. "You don't mess with them."
About a month ago, 50 vehicles showed up on the property, and the women said neighbours assumed something bad was going on.
Labels: Christian militia, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hutaree, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, raids
Sunday, March 28, 2010
(CNN) -- Federal authorities plan to unseal charges Monday against several people arrested in a series of weekend raids in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, prosecutors in Detroit said Sunday.
At least seven people were arrested on charges that were under seal over the weekend, a law enforcement source said Sunday.
Gina Balaya, spokeswoman for the U.S attorney's office in Detroit, said those charges will be revealed during a federal court hearing Monday.
Mike Lackomar, a county leader for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, said the target of the raid was a Christian militia group called the Hutaree. The group proclaims on a Web site that it is "preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive."
The FBI would disclose no details of the raids. The law enforcement source told CNN the arrests were unrelated to any terrorist plot. The source would not confirm Hutaree members were among those arrested, but said the suspects were not planning attacks against government targets and the raids were unrelated to recent threats against members of Congress.
At least two arrests were made in Huron and Sandusky, Ohio, but the case is being handled out of Detroit, said Scott Wilson, an FBI spokesman in Cleveland.
Lackomar, who cited the FBI for his information, said several Hutaree members were arrested at a wake for one of the group. He said the Hutaree group trained with his organization "on a couple of occasions in years past," but his group stopped about a year ago, after the Hutaree had an "issue" with federal firearms regulators. He did not elaborate.
Lackomar called the Hutaree a "religious militant group" with about a dozen members, who scattered as news of the raids spread over the weekend.
He told CNN his own group is aimed at "aiding the community in times of emergency" and had nothing to do with the raids.Labels: Christian militia, CNN, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio
At least one of the raids is said to target a Christian militia group in Michigan. Other raids take place in Ohio and Indiana. Some of those arrested face gun charges.
Adrian, Mich. - The FBI said Sunday that agents conducted weekend raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio and arrested at least three people, and a militia leader in Michigan said the target of at least one of the raids was a Christian militia group.
Federal warrants were sealed, but a federal law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said some of those arrested face gun charges and officials are pursuing other suspects.
FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said there had been activity in two southwest Michigan counties near the Ohio state line. She wouldn't say whether they were tied to the raids in the other states.
FBI spokesman Scott Wilson in Cleveland said agents arrested two people Saturday after raids in two Ohio towns. A third arrest Sunday in northeast Illinois stemmed from a raid Saturday just over the border in northwest Indiana, both part of an ongoing investigation led by the FBI in Michigan, according to a statement from agents in Illinois...
Labels: Christian militia, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Indiana, Michigan, militia, Ohio
Federal agents conducted raids over the weekend in Lenawee and Wastenaw counties that reports say may be related to some members of Hutaree, a Christian-militia group in Michigan.
"We can confirm that there were law enforcement activities in the Lenawee/Washtenaw County area," said Detroit FBI Special
Labels: Christian militia, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hutaree, Michigan
ADRIAN, Mich. – The FBI said Sunday that agents conducted weekend raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio and arrested at least three people, and a militia leader in Michigan said the target of at least one of the raids was a Christian militia group.
Federal warrants were sealed, but FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said there had been activity in two southwest Michigan counties near the Ohio state line. She wouldn't say whether they were tied to the raids in the other states.
FBI spokesman Scott Wilson in Cleveland 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, a Christian militia group, who said their property in southwest Michigan was being raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives...
Labels: Christian militia, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hutaree, Indiana, Michigan, militia, Ohio
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