Radical terrorist group planning to overthrow the US government with Weapons of Mass Destruction thwarted by FBI and Detroit Police

Luckily for Obama, the Detroit Police (without the help of Axel Foley) and FBI managed to infiltrate and shut down the operations of the Hutaree Christian militia group.

     Eight suspected terrorists have been arrested, indicted, and jailed because they "conspired to overthrow the US government."

     Whew!  Damn lucky the police moved when they did.  I mean, look at these masterminds who would easily have brought down the government and used their superior intellects to dominate America.

 
 

The shallow end of the gene pool

    In addition to conspiring to overthrow the US government, these religious zealots are charged with seditious conspiracy, attempting to use weapons of mass destruction, and possession of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.  David Stone Sr and David Stone Jr also are charged with teaching/demonstrating use of explosive materials.’

     Let me clarify that for you.  The indictment actually said they were planning on attacking and killing local, state, and federal police officers.  Their method?  Kill one, and then attack the funeral procession later. 

     Damn.  That's some elaborate plot.  Definitely worthy of seditious conspiracy charges, which carry a 20 year sentence.

     But worse, they conspired to attempt to use a weapon of mass destruction!

     Shock horror.  Aren't these the things that Saddam was supposed to have? 

 

For your information, a "weapon of mass destruction" is now defined as just about any weapon excluding standard firearms.  These include: bombs, grenades, mines, and missiles having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce.  A whole quarter ounce?  That's huge.  They also include any firearm that isn't a shotgun with a bore of over 0.5 inches.  I just looked on line, and found a weapon of mass destruction for sale.

    Man, when I was a kid, I remember my letterbox getting blown up by a bunch of local kids using a pool chlorine and sugar bomb.  I didn't realize at the time that my house had come under attack by WMD.

    This is scary.  The maximum sentence of life in prison seems comparatively light for the offence of conspiring to use one of these things.  Oh, and don't imagine that being outside of the US gets you off the hook.  Any US citizen owning, possessing, or using a WMD outside of the US is also up for life in prison.  This guy must be in jail already.

 

    But what's worse about the Michigan 8 is that one of the guys was even teaching other people (let's call them "terrorists") how to use explosives.  That's also a criminal offense with a 20-year jail term by the way -- even if they had no intention of using the explosives.  Don't follow this link or I'm going to jail as well!

     The final charge, which they all got banged with, was possession of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.  So, having a licensed firearm is ok, but if you happen to have a firearm and conspire to do something violent, then it carries a mandatory 5-year license.

     Good, get these thought-criminals off the street.

     The judge -- sensibly in my view -- refused them bail on the grounds that they would be a threat to the community.  Heck, one of them even has a record of aggravated assault -- from driving his truck into the path of a police car 20 years ago!

     The prosecution is rapidly building a water-tight case against the Michigan 8, having seized firearms, grenade smoke, ammunition, military uniforms, a copy of Adolf Hitler’s “My New Order,” a samurai sword, and a jewelled dagger. 

     Yup, damning evidence indeed.  I mean a jewelled dagger?  That's what the terrorists in "Romancing the Stone" gave to Danny DeVito. 

     But it gets worse for the Michigan 8.  The prosecution alleges that their leader delivered a speech including the words, “How much longer are you going to put up with a foreign army controlling your streets and highways?  Now it’s time to strike and take our nation back so that we may be free again from tyranny.  Time is up.”

     Indeed.  The right to freedom of speech should only be stretched so far, and this clearly goes beyond it.  Imagine if they'd said something as like:

    We can do this. It will not be easy. It will require struggle and sacrifice. There will setbacks and we will make mistakes. And that is why we need all the help we can get.  So tonight I want to speak directly to all those Americans who have yet to join this movement but still hunger for change - we need you.  We need you to stand with us... This is just the beginning of our efforts to take back our country... We will not let America sink into further... without a fight.   - quotes from Sarah Palin's Facebook and an Obama campaign speech

     I mean, the group discussed various way of killing people, how to take over a county, and even plotted to take over a handful of counties in southeast Michigan -- including Hillsdale, Washtenaw and Lenawee counties -- to lure the enemy to them.  All 20 of them.  I remember doing a similar exercise in primary school to take over Tasmania.  Thank god I got away with it.

     So in summary, we have a group of guys with guns that trained 3-4 times a year, an outspoken leader, wacky plans, and an explosives expert who could create all kinds of WMD.

     Explosives expert?  It recently came out that the explosives expert was actually an undercover FBI agent.  So the police that arrested them actually provided the reason for arresting them in the first place.  Now that's efficient police work.

     In fact, it's so efficient that it is becoming the modus operandi of the FBI, having worked so well previously.

     So now we know why America is so safe despite having so many terrorist training camps!  The FBI infiltrates disgruntled right-wing paramilitary groups, supplies the WMD and arrests them.  This is MUCH more efficient -- not to mention safer -- than waiting around for them to actually attempt to commit a crime. 

     Heck, having a full time agent on the inside and mounting a massive surveillance team is pretty expensive, and if the group actually decides not to break the law it would all go to waste anyway.  Much better to get them to commit "seditious conspiracy", arrest the lot of them, throw 'em in jail, and move onto the next target.

     And I gotta say, I'm very pleased they are going after Christians as well as Muslims now.  This ties in nicely with Obama's recent policy shift in dealing with Jihad, Islam, and crusades.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter.