Glad to see the federal authorities on top stuff like this:
Five people in the Fairbanks area were arrested Thursday by state and federal law enforcement on charges connected with an alleged plot to kidnap or kill state troopers and a Fairbanks judge, according to the Alaska State Troopers.
Francis “Schaeffer” Cox, Lonnie Vernon, Karen Vernon, Coleman Barney and Michael Anderson are accused of conspiring to commit murder, kidnapping, and arson, as well as weapons misconduct, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence, according to trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters in a written statement late Thursday.
An investigation “revealed extensive plans to kidnap or kill Alaska state troopers and a Fairbanks judge,” the statement said. The plans included “extensive surveillance” on the homes of two Fairbanks troopers, the statement said.
“Investigation also revealed that extensive surveillance on troopers in the Fairbanks area had occurred, specifically on the locations of the homes for two Alaska state troopers,” the statement said. “Furthermore, Cox et. al. had acquired a large cache of weapons in order to carry out attacks against their targeted victims. Some of the weapons known to be in the cache are prohibited by state or federal law.”
U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler said Lonnie Vernon, 55, was arrested for threatening to kill a federal judge. She said more information about federal charges would be released today Fairbanks Police Chief Loren Zager said the operation involved multiple police actions related to Fairbanks-area members of the “sovereign citizen” movement.
The operation was complete by evening, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Anchorage.
via Five charged in alleged plot to kidnap or kill troopers, judge: Crime | Alaska news at adn.com.
As I have said before twice on this blog; Terrorism is Terrorism — no matter who is doing it, or in what name it is being done. Here is hoping that they throw the book at these idiots. Personally, I have had not much good to say about the whole Militia thing; especially here in Michigan. I have hung around with some of these guys in the past. Most of them come off as wanna-be hero’s with guns. The problem is, that 90% of more of them; are ate up with this whole mentality that the Government is out get them or something similar. This increased after the election of the nation’s first black President.
I know Lew Rockwell and his friends won’t be happy about this; but sometimes, I think the Government is right to stop people like this, especially if they are planning to kill people.
Although, I will say this; the left is trying to paint this as a “Right Wing” problem. I’ve met and spoken with some of these people, and most of them, could give two flips about politics; their thing is that they want to be free and they actually believe that the difference between the parties is a joke. So, I think the left needs to get off that the “right wing problem” crap. Because you’ll find that most people, like some libertarians; reject the notion of left versus right. Myself personally, I do believe that the Left versus Right idea is very legitimate. However, you will not see me running with a gun and being stupid! That is because I still believe that we have a system of redress of grievances — it is called the ballot box. The American people used this process to send a message to the Republican Party, no more business as usual! Believe it or not, they heard it, loud and clear! People that do, what these people have done; have lost all faith in their countries political process. Not mention they’ve lost all touch with reality.
The only thing that I can say is this; in a free, Constitutional Republic, these type of people and things happen. The only way to stop them, is to lose that freedom; and that my friends, is the complete modus operandi of the liberal left in this Country.