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Prosecutor: Ga. murder case uncovers terror plot

sharon

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Not sure this is in the proper category...But, this case is real scary... These guys are Americans for goodness sake. and trained killers...

Prosecutor: Ga. murder case uncovers terror plot
By RUSS BYNUM | Associated Press – 1 hr 47 mins ago.. .
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LUDOWICI, Ga. (AP) — Four Army soldiers based in southeast Georgia killed a former comrade and his girlfriend to protect an anarchist militia group they formed that stockpiled assault weapons and plotted a range of anti-government attacks, prosecutors told a judge Monday.

Prosecutors in rural Long County, near the sprawling Army post Fort Stewart, said the militia group of active and former U.S. military members spent at least $87,000 buying guns and bomb components. They allege the group was serious enough to kill two people — former soldier Michael Roark and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Tiffany York — by shooting them in the woods last December in order to keep its plans secret.

"This domestic terrorist organization did not simply plan and talk," prosecutor Isabel Pauley told a Superior Court judge. "Prior to the murders in this case, the group took action. Evidence shows the group possessed the knowledge, means and motive to carry out their plans."

One of the Fort Stewart soldiers charged in the case, Pfc. Michael Burnett, also gave testimony that backed up many of the assertions made by prosecutors. The 26-year-old soldier pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter, illegal gang activity and other charges. He made a deal to cooperate with prosecutors against the three other soldiers.



continued


Prosecutor: Ga. murder case uncovers terror plot - Yahoo! News
 
Prosecutors said the group called itself F.E.A.R., short for Forever Enduring Always Ready. Pauley said authorities don't know how many members it had.

Burnett, 26, said he knew the group's leaders from serving with them at Fort Stewart. He agreed to testify against fellow soldiers Pvt. Isaac Aguigui, identified by prosecutors as the militia's founder and leader, and Sgt. Anthony Peden and Pvt. Christopher Salmon.

All are charged by state authorities with malice murder, felony murder, criminal gang activity, aggravated assault and using a firearm while committing a felony. A hearing for the three soldiers was scheduled Thursday.

Prosecutors say Roark, 19, served with the four defendants in the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division and became involved with the militia. Pauley said the group believed it had been betrayed by Roark, who left the Army two days before he was killed, and decided the ex-soldier and his girlfriend needed to be silenced.

Burnett testified that on the night of Dec. 4, he and the three other soldiers lured Roark and York to some woods a short distance from the Army post under the guise that they were going target shooting. He said Peden shot Roark's girlfriend in the head while she was trying to get out of her car. Salmon, he said, made Roark get on his knees and shot him twice in the head. Burnett said Aguigui ordered the killings.

"A 'loose end' is the way Isaac put it," Burnett said.

Aguigui's attorney, Daveniya Fisher, did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press. Attorneys for Peden and Salmon both declined to comment Monday.

Also charged in the killings is Salmon's wife, Heather Salmon. Her attorney, Charles Nester, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Pauley said Aguigui funded the militia using $500,000 in insurance and benefit payments from the death of his pregnant wife a year ago. Aguigui was not charged in his wife's death, but Pauley told the judge her death was "highly suspicious."

She said Aguigui used the money to buy $87,000 worth of semiautomatic assault rifles, other guns and bomb components that were recovered from the accused soldiers' homes and from a storage locker. He also used the insurance payments to buy land for his militia group in Washington state, Pauley said.

In a videotaped interview with military investigators, Pauley said, Aguigui called himself "the nicest cold-blooded murderer you will ever meet." He used the Army to recruit militia members, who wore distinctive tattoos that resemble an anarchy symbol, she said. Prosecutors say they have no idea how many members belong to the group.

"All members of the group were on active-duty or were former members of the military," Pauley said. "He targeted soldiers who were in trouble or disillusioned."

The prosecutor said the militia group had big plans. It plotted to take over Fort Stewart by seizing its ammunition control point and talked of bombing the Forsyth Park fountain in nearby Savannah, she said. In Washington state, she added, the group plotted to bomb a dam and poison the state's apple crop. Ultimately, prosecutors said, the militia's goal was to overthrow the government and assassinate the president.

Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said the Army has dropped its own charges against the four soldiers in the slayings of Roark and York. The Military authorities filed their charges in March but never acted on them. Fort Stewart officials Monday refused to identify the units the accused soldiers served in and their jobs within those units.

"Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield does not have a gang or militia problem," Larson said in a prepared statement, though he said Army investigators still have an open investigation in the case.

"However, we don't believe there are any unknown subjects," he said.

District Attorney Tom Durden said his office has been sharing information with federal authorities, but no charges have been filed in federal court. Jim Durham, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, would not comment on whether a case is pending.
.. ..
.
(Well, they have a gang problem NOW)
 
For goodnesses' sake.
 
For goodnesses' sake.

Sounds to me like there might be more than four of them..

Just think .. These young men took the enlistment oath.
 
Did these kids know each other or find each other in the Army? Basic failed them.
 
I had started this topic in another thread but maybe the mods will combine the two

In other news

Leader of Army Plot to Assassinate Obama Apparently Attended the 2008 Republican Convention as a Page

xlarge.jpg

Isaac Aguigui, the Army private and alleged ringleader of a plot to assassinate Barack Obama and "take over" Ft. Stewart in Georgia, apparently served as a page at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota. That's his mug shot after he was arrested for the alleged murder of Pvt. Michael Roark on the left. At right is a 2008 Reuters photo with the caption: "Republican National Convention page Isaac Aguigui watches from the edge of the floor at the start of the first session of the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota September 1, 2008."

I guess he found the GOP to be too 'moderate' for his tastes.
 
Hmmm...considering these are federal employees, shoudn't this be just a workplace violence case?
 
Hmmm...considering these are federal employees, shoudn't this be just a workplace violence case?

They should get the death penalty for plotting to kill the president.
 
Did these kids know each other or find each other in the Army? Basic failed them.

In a videotaped interview with military investigators, Pauley said, Aguigui called himself "the nicest cold-blooded murderer you will ever meet."

He used the Army to recruit militia members, who wore distinctive tattoos that resemble an anarchy symbol, she said. Prosecutors say they have no idea how many members belong to the group.

"All members of the group were on active-duty or were former members of the military," Pauley said. "He targeted soldiers who were in trouble or disillusioned."

(he used the Army to recruit members.)
 
Prosecutors said the group called itself F.E.A.R., short for Forever Enduring Always Ready. Pauley said authorities don't know how many members it had.

Burnett, 26, said he knew the group's leaders from serving with them at Fort Stewart. He agreed to testify against fellow soldiers Pvt. Isaac Aguigui, identified by prosecutors as the militia's founder and leader, and Sgt. Anthony Peden and Pvt. Christopher Salmon.

All are charged by state authorities with malice murder, felony murder, criminal gang activity, aggravated assault and using a firearm while committing a felony. A hearing for the three soldiers was scheduled Thursday.

Prosecutors say Roark, 19, served with the four defendants in the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division and became involved with the militia. Pauley said the group believed it had been betrayed by Roark, who left the Army two days before he was killed, and decided the ex-soldier and his girlfriend needed to be silenced.

Burnett testified that on the night of Dec. 4, he and the three other soldiers lured Roark and York to some woods a short distance from the Army post under the guise that they were going target shooting. He said Peden shot Roark's girlfriend in the head while she was trying to get out of her car. Salmon, he said, made Roark get on his knees and shot him twice in the head. Burnett said Aguigui ordered the killings.

"A 'loose end' is the way Isaac put it," Burnett said.

Aguigui's attorney, Daveniya Fisher, did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press. Attorneys for Peden and Salmon both declined to comment Monday.

Also charged in the killings is Salmon's wife, Heather Salmon. Her attorney, Charles Nester, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Pauley said Aguigui funded the militia using $500,000 in insurance and benefit payments from the death of his pregnant wife a year ago. Aguigui was not charged in his wife's death, but Pauley told the judge her death was "highly suspicious."

She said Aguigui used the money to buy $87,000 worth of semiautomatic assault rifles, other guns and bomb components that were recovered from the accused soldiers' homes and from a storage locker. He also used the insurance payments to buy land for his militia group in Washington state, Pauley said.

In a videotaped interview with military investigators, Pauley said, Aguigui called himself "the nicest cold-blooded murderer you will ever meet." He used the Army to recruit militia members, who wore distinctive tattoos that resemble an anarchy symbol, she said. Prosecutors say they have no idea how many members belong to the group.

"All members of the group were on active-duty or were former members of the military," Pauley said. "He targeted soldiers who were in trouble or disillusioned."

The prosecutor said the militia group had big plans. It plotted to take over Fort Stewart by seizing its ammunition control point and talked of bombing the Forsyth Park fountain in nearby Savannah, she said. In Washington state, she added, the group plotted to bomb a dam and poison the state's apple crop. Ultimately, prosecutors said, the militia's goal was to overthrow the government and assassinate the president.

Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said the Army has dropped its own charges against the four soldiers in the slayings of Roark and York. The Military authorities filed their charges in March but never acted on them. Fort Stewart officials Monday refused to identify the units the accused soldiers served in and their jobs within those units.

"Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield does not have a gang or militia problem," Larson said in a prepared statement, though he said Army investigators still have an open investigation in the case.

"However, we don't believe there are any unknown subjects," he said.

District Attorney Tom Durden said his office has been sharing information with federal authorities, but no charges have been filed in federal court. Jim Durham, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, would not comment on whether a case is pending.
.. ..
.
(Well, they have a gang problem NOW)
now that is one ignorant statement
which must undermine any credibility of the source
 
None of us saw this last week when it would have fit the definition used here of "Breaking News"

Neo-Nazis Are Using the Army as a Training Camp

White supremacists aren't the type of people you want to train to be unstoppable fighting machines, but that doesn't mean they're not signing up for the call of duty. In a disturbing Reuters investigation, Daniel Trotta uncovers the campaign by neo-Nazis and certain skinhead groups to encourage enlistment in the Army and Marine Corps so members can learn the skills to overthrow the government, or in neo-Nazi speak, the Zionist Occupation Government. "They call it 'rahowa' - short for racial holy war - and they are preparing for it by joining the ranks of ... the U.S. military," writes Trotta. "Get in, get trained and get out to brace for the coming race war."

The recruiting practice is gaining scrutiny in light of the Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting by gunman Wade Michael Page, a former U.S. Army soldier and neo-Nazi musician. As CNN reported last week, Page's base, Fort Bragg, "was home to a small number of white supremacists including three soldiers later convicted in the murder of an African-American couple."

Southern Poverty Law Center posted an article last year interviewing the man who had led the group investigating right-wing extremism.
Daryl Johnson, who headed the DHS unit responsible for analyzing security threats from non-Islamic domestic extremists, was the principal author of the April 7, 2009, report "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."

The report was intended only for distribution to law enforcement agencies. But after it was leaked to the media, a firestorm erupted among conservative commentators who wrongly claimed it equated conservatives with terrorists. Within days, Napolitano had disowned it.

Johnson, who was interviewed for the upcoming summer issue of the SPLC’s Intelligence Report, said that following the controversy, the DHS dismantled the intelligence team that studied the threat from right-wing extremists and that the department no longer produces its own analytical reports on that subject. When the 2009 report was written, there were six analysts in the unit, including Johnson. Today, he said, there is one.

When ever I read some rightie calling out the Administration for being infiltrated by "commies and anti-Americans", this is just one more instance in which I have seen the Obama people react more quickly to right-wing pushes than to left-wing cries.

More from the SPLC - Terror From the Right
 
now that is one ignorant statement
which must undermine any credibility of the source

I agree.. and saying there is no militia or gang activity at Fort Stewart????

Obviously there is.

I hope they throw the book at them.. An American Taliban or Al Qaeda is NOT wht we need.
 
Their planning to poison Washington's apple crop sounded just plain loony. But, obviously, very dangerous loons, since they murdered two people. Hubby reminded me how Oregon's "Rajneeshee's" contaminated food in a surrounding town with Salmonellae, about 30 years ago. They were a kook religious group.
 
Did these kids know each other or find each other in the Army? Basic failed them.

Not for sure exactly what "Basic" has to do with it or how it failed them. The job of Basic Military training is to take civilian individuals, give them the basics needed to funciton as part of a Military team and a basic skill set of military skills. What does that have to do with the fact they apparently formed an anti-government (or at least anti-Obama) anarchist group? They failed themselves and their parents/guardians failed them by not teaching them proper ways to handle fustration with not getting what they want. Instead of dealing with it in an adult fashion, they are attempting to lash out like some 3 year old that was told no. Maybe, just maybe, Basic failed to instill in them proper dicipline, but then that is not supprising considering all the powder-puff, kid glove, psychobable methods of instilling discipline that the military is currently forced to endure.

On the plus side, considering that they should of had geater understanding of force application, strategy and tactics than a civilian is expected to have, they still made stupid choices and had absolutely no clue how to achieve their mission objectives.
 
Not for sure exactly what "Basic" has to do with it or how it failed them. The job of Basic Military training is to take civilian individuals, give them the basics needed to funciton as part of a Military team and a basic skill set of military skills. What does that have to do with the fact they apparently formed an anti-government (or at least anti-Obama) anarchist group? They failed themselves and their parents/guardians failed them by not teaching them proper ways to handle fustration with not getting what they want. Instead of dealing with it in an adult fashion, they are attempting to lash out like some 3 year old that was told no. Maybe, just maybe, Basic failed to instill in them proper dicipline, but then that is not supprising considering all the powder-puff, kid glove, psychobable methods of instilling discipline that the military is currently forced to endure.

On the plus side, considering that they should of had geater understanding of force application, strategy and tactics than a civilian is expected to have, they still made stupid choices and had absolutely no clue how to achieve their mission objectives.

Interesting. When I went through basic training, and then later OBC, pride in our country was definitely instilled into us. Things must have changed.
 
Interesting. When I went through basic training, and then later OBC, pride in our country was definitely instilled into us. Things must have changed.

It all depends on your definition of "our country" - the white supremacists and groups like Oath Keepers see "their country" being taken over by the others and as a consequence they feel they are the 'true' patriots.


from 2010 Palin: "It's Time to Take Our Country Back"

The nation's motto was E Pluribus Unum until the Red Scare days of the 1950s, but some who call themselves American patriots don't quite grasp the implications of it.
 
Interesting. When I went through basic training, and then later OBC, pride in our country was definitely instilled into us. Things must have changed.

Patriotism as opposed to Nationalism.... Yes, yes, yes.........
 
It all depends on your definition of "our country" - the white supremacists and groups like Oath Keepers see "their country" being taken over by the others and as a consequence they feel they are the 'true' patriots.


from 2010 Palin: "It's Time to Take Our Country Back"

The nation's motto was E Pluribus Unum until the Red Scare days of the 1950s, but some who call themselves American patriots don't quite grasp the implications of it.

Considering the intrusion of socialist and those supporting socialistic policies, I wouldn't limit it to white supremacists, in fact, I would probably agree that some groups have a very ligitimate point. I had absolutely no "pride in country" under Clinton, only very little under Bush and if I had stayed in long enough, I would never have any under Comrade Premier Obama. Considering the political stances and policies of the Democrats since the 1960s, it wasn't a "red scare", it was a legitimate concern and prediction of the future.
 
Considering the intrusion of socialist and those supporting socialistic policies, I wouldn't limit it to white supremacists, in fact, I would probably agree that some groups have a very ligitimate point. I had absolutely no "pride in country" under Clinton, only very little under Bush and if I had stayed in long enough, I would never have any under Comrade Premier Obama. Considering the political stances and policies of the Democrats since the 1960s, it wasn't a "red scare", it was a legitimate concern and prediction of the future.


I do believe you have created an alternative universe for I do not recognise the country you describe.
 
Considering the intrusion of socialist and those supporting socialistic policies, I wouldn't limit it to white supremacists, in fact, I would probably agree that some groups have a very ligitimate point. I had absolutely no "pride in country" under Clinton, only very little under Bush and if I had stayed in long enough, I would never have any under Comrade Premier Obama. Considering the political stances and policies of the Democrats since the 1960s, it wasn't a "red scare", it was a legitimate concern and prediction of the future.

Our country isn't about who is president. ... its about how we navigate the ever changing challenges.

The Red Scare wasn't particularly real, but it was a useful unifier for the times.

I only experienced "Duck and Cover" once while I was in school in the US for about 6 weeks.. circa 1955.

I remember distinctly wondering how that was going to protect us from a nuclear bomb.. as I was balled up underneath an oak school desk.
 
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