World
Militia Arrested
Alleged Christian fanatics based in rural Michigan
rounded up in FBI raids.
A Michigan State Police officer, left, with an assault rifle stands guard outside
the rural home of the leader of the Hutaree group.
N
eighbors in rural Clayton, Mich.,
20 miles south of Jackson and
10 miles from the Ohio border,
often saw David and Tina Stone hosting
visitors in military clothing. Hearing gun-
fire in the woods was routine.
Saturday night, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, backed by state police,
raided the Stones' trailer home and three
other sites in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.
They arrested eight people Saturday and
a second Stone son on Tuesday, saying
the nine are members of a right-wing
Christian militia group that was plotting
to kill a police officer and then attack
police attending the officer's funeral.
The U.S. Justice Department on Monday
said the group, calling themselves Hutaree,
or Christan Warriors, were hoping to incite
an uprising against the U.S. government
that would lead to the biblical "end of
times:'
"This is an example of radical and
extremist fringe groups which can be
found throughout our society," said
Andrew Arena, the FBI special agent in
charge in Detroit. "The FBI takes such
extremist groups seriously, especially
those who would target innocent citizens
and the law enforcement officers who pro-
tect the citizens of the United States:'
A grand jury in Detroit secretly
returned the indictment against the nine
on March 23.
Hutaree's Web site has apocalyptic
religious scenarios. It says the group was
"preparing for the end time battles to keep
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JN
the testimony of Jesus Christ alive" and
shows video of rifle-toting men in camou-
flage running through woods and firing
weapons.
"Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend
ourselves using the sword and stay alive
using equipment:' the Web site says. "The
Hutaree will one day see its enemy and
meet him on the battlefield if so God wills
it."
Analysts say the Hutaree philosophy
is drawn from populist rhetoric that
combines fear of a one-world govern-
ment with a belief that a war is imminent,
with Christians fighting the Antichrist,
"evil Jews" and Muslims. They base this
on the Christian Bible's Book of
nrr
Revelation.
Last April, the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security warned of
rising threats of right-wing ter-
rorism, citing economic problems
in the U.S., the election of a black
president and perceived threats to
U.S. sovereignty.
Mark Potok of the Southern
Poverty Law Center said his group
first noted the Hutaree last year
amid a rise in new "Patriot" movements,
race-based hate groups, extremist anti-
immigrant groups, Christian militants and
other variations.
"We're seeing all kinds of radical right-
wing groups grow very rapidly, especially
in the militia world:' Potok said.
The indictment said the Hutaree, in
anticipation of a war against its enemies,
had been engaging in "military-style train-
ing," from weapons proficiency drills to
"close quarter battle drills" and the use of
"ambush kill zones."The group had guns,
ammunition, medical supplies, uniforms,
communications equipment and "explo-
sives and other components for destruc-
tive devices:' it said.
After attacking the police, the members
planned to go to several planned areas and
wait for the authorities to come after them.
The areas were fighting positions with
"trip-wired and command-detonated"
bombs, the indictment said.
It alleged that Stone had announced "a
covert reconnaissance exercise" for April
in which "anyone who happened upon the
exercise who did not acquiesce to Hutaree
demands could be killed," the indictment
said.
The U.S. attorney for the Eastern
District of Michigan, Barbara McQuade,
said the government arrested the group
because that exercise would have "had
the potential of placing an unsuspecting
member of the public at risk."
The Stones' two sons were among those
arrested. Joshua, the eldest, left the local
schools after the fifth grade in 1999 to be
home-schooled, and the younger, David B.
Stone Jr., 19, was never enrolled.
Also charged were Joshua J. Clough, 28,
of Blissfield, Mich.; Michael D. Meeks, 40,
of Manchester, Mich.; Thomas W. Piatek,
46, of Whiting, Ind.; Kristopher T. Sickles,
27, of Sandusky, Ohio; and Jacob Ward, 33,
of Huron, Ohio.
They could face a maximum penalty of
life in prison if convicted of the most seri-
ous charge, attempted use of a weapon of
mass destruction. El
Compiled by Associate Editor Alan Hitsky from
wire service and newspaper reports.
Right Wing
Media p robe
extremists
.
Robert Sklar
Editor
Right-wing extremism, the kind
practiced by the Hutaree mili-
tia, is the focal point of a news
and investigative collaboration
between WDET-FM, the Detroit
public radio station owned
and operated by Wayne State
University, and four local, inde-
pendent ethnic newspapers: the
Jewish News, the Arab-American
News, the Michigan Chronicle and
Latino.
The five Michigan media entities
have commissioned the Southern
Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a
Montgomery, Ala.-based non-
profit civil rights organization, to
produce a special report on the
Michigan militia movement.
The SPLC, a top research insti-
tution in the areas of hate groups,
discrimination and exploitation,
observed that "after more than a
decade out of the spotlight, the
militias have come roaring back
to life across the country and
Michigan, once again, is a hotbed
of militia activity."
The partnership will share the
findings of the SPLC as well as
host interviews and call-in seg-
ments on WDET. It will encourage
the news media, both ethnic and
mainstream, to host conversations
and engage the audience through
a variety of social media. The JN,
under Publisher Arthur Horwitz's
direction, will publish the report
and an original editorial viewpoint
on April 8.
"The primary reason for the
rapid growth of these militia
groups is the presidential election
of Barack Obama," says Betsy
Kellman, Anti-Defamation League
Michigan Region director. "His
election re-ignited a number of
longstanding anti-government
conspiracy theories about gun
confiscation, FEMA [Federal
Emergency Management Agency]
concentration camps and martial
law.
"There has been a resurgence of
this anti-government animosity in
the last 18 months." 17