11-02-2011, 08:58 AM
does GA have the most fringe militia whackos? 
here's some geezer whackos. i'm waiting for mug shots.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Four North Georgia men, alleged members of a fringe militia group, on Tuesday were charged with trying to buy explosives and make a deadly toxin to use in attacks against federal law enforcement agencies and unidentified officials.
Federal authorities said the men had held clandestine militia meetings, beginning in March, in which they discussed using toxic agents and assassinations to undermine federal and state government.
The four men taken into federal custody were: Frederick Thomas, 73, of Cleveland; and Toccoa residents Dan Roberts, 67; Ray H. Adams, 65; and Samuel J. Crump, 68.
U.S. Attorney Sally Yates said that as the U.S. government focuses on terrorist threats by violent international extremists, “This case demonstrates that we must also remain vigilant in protecting our country from citizens within our borders who threaten our safety and security.”
Thomas, Roberts, Adams and others who attended the meetings discussed targeting various government officials, federal authorities said. The meetings were monitored by the FBI and secretly tape recorded by a confidential informant helping the FBI, according to sworn affidavits unsealed Tuesday.
Roberts’ wife, Margaret, 59, said last night that she was shocked by the day’s developments, which included FBI agents handcuffing her while they searched the rural Toccoa home she has shared with her husband for more than two decades.
“My husband would not hurt anybody and anybody who knows him knows he wouldn’t hurt anybody,” Margaret Roberts said, her voice trembling. “Dan has always respected the law. He’s never had a problem with the law.”
Thomas was described in affidavits as a leading speaker at the meetings. He discussed having a “bucket list” of government officials, business leaders and members of the media who needed to be “taken out” to “make the country right again,” the affidavit said.
Thomas also said he was a military veteran who had been to war and had taken a life, and said he could do it again, the affidavit said.
“There’s no way for us, as militiamen, to save this country, to save Georgia, without doing something that’s highly illegal: murder,” Thomas said during a meeting in March, according to the affidavit. "...When it comes to saving the Constitution, that means some people gotta die."
Dan Roberts said he knew people in Habersham County who had a substance that could kill people, the affidavit said, and the discussion next turned to ways to obtain castor beans. Castor beans are used to make ricin, a deadly toxin that can be fatal if inhaled or ingested.
During a September meeting, also secretly recorded, Crump said he wanted to make 10 pounds of ricin and disperse it in various U.S. cities, including Atlanta, the affidavits said. Crump said ricin could be blown from a car traveling on the interstates, the affidavit said. Adams is accused of trying to help Crump obtain ricin for use as a weapon, authorities said.
As recently as last week, Crump allegedly said he was going to begin shelling the castor beans, and Adams said he had a formula to make ricin and identified ways to get the necessary ingredients for it, the affidavits said.
Militia members also discussed how to obtain firearms, ammunition and silencers, the FBI affidavit said.
At a meeting in April, Thomas said the “civilian government operatives” the militia members would be targeting included police officers and members of federal law enforcement groups, such as the IRS and FBI, the affidavit said.
"I could shoot ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] and IRS all day long," Thomas said, according to the affidavit. "All the judges and the DOJ [Justice Department], and the attorneys and prosecutors."
In May, Thomas drove with the confidential informant to Atlanta, unaware the other man was secretly recording their conversations. The men conducted surveillance on the local ATF and IRS buildings to plan and assess a possible attack, the FBI affidavit said. “There’s two schools of thought on this: go for the feds or go for the locals,” Thomas said during the trip, the affidavit said. “I’m inclined to consider both.”
The affidavit added that Thomas also said, “We’d have to blow the whole building, like Timothy McVeigh,” referring to the man behind the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. "We gotta have a lot of explosives."
The FBI affidavit noted that the agency's confidential informant, whose name was not disclosed, is out on bond for a pending state felony charge. The FBI gave the informant a polygraph test during the investigation of the militia group, and the informant gave "less than truthful responses" about the militia group's activities, the affidavit said.
A woman who answered the phone at the Thomas residence said his family had "no comment at this time." A woman reached at Adams' residence said she was unaware of the charges and also had no comment. All four men are scheduled to appear before a U.S. magistrate in Gainesville on Wednesday.
Hours after her husband’s arrest, Margaret Roberts and her two children were still in disbelief over the charges filed against Dan Roberts. She said her husband had retired in recent years from the signage industry, and the couple was involved in animal rescue.
Margaret Roberts said she had never met Thomas, but acknowledged Thomas had called her home at least once, and believes she met Crump years ago, but wouldn’t recognize him now. She wasn’t familiar with Adams.
“I don’t know these people,” she said. “I can’t say anything about them, but I know Dan. Dan wouldn’t hurt a fly. And he is not anti-government. He respects the law.”
Margaret Roberts said she was still trying to piece together what transpired Tuesday, and couldn’t comprehend what had taken place at her home.
“It scared me to death,” she said. “Agents were walking around here with guns and rifles. It was something like out of the movies.”
here's some geezer whackos. i'm waiting for mug shots. Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Four North Georgia men, alleged members of a fringe militia group, on Tuesday were charged with trying to buy explosives and make a deadly toxin to use in attacks against federal law enforcement agencies and unidentified officials.
Federal authorities said the men had held clandestine militia meetings, beginning in March, in which they discussed using toxic agents and assassinations to undermine federal and state government.
The four men taken into federal custody were: Frederick Thomas, 73, of Cleveland; and Toccoa residents Dan Roberts, 67; Ray H. Adams, 65; and Samuel J. Crump, 68.
U.S. Attorney Sally Yates said that as the U.S. government focuses on terrorist threats by violent international extremists, “This case demonstrates that we must also remain vigilant in protecting our country from citizens within our borders who threaten our safety and security.”
Thomas, Roberts, Adams and others who attended the meetings discussed targeting various government officials, federal authorities said. The meetings were monitored by the FBI and secretly tape recorded by a confidential informant helping the FBI, according to sworn affidavits unsealed Tuesday.
Roberts’ wife, Margaret, 59, said last night that she was shocked by the day’s developments, which included FBI agents handcuffing her while they searched the rural Toccoa home she has shared with her husband for more than two decades.
“My husband would not hurt anybody and anybody who knows him knows he wouldn’t hurt anybody,” Margaret Roberts said, her voice trembling. “Dan has always respected the law. He’s never had a problem with the law.”
Thomas was described in affidavits as a leading speaker at the meetings. He discussed having a “bucket list” of government officials, business leaders and members of the media who needed to be “taken out” to “make the country right again,” the affidavit said.
Thomas also said he was a military veteran who had been to war and had taken a life, and said he could do it again, the affidavit said.
“There’s no way for us, as militiamen, to save this country, to save Georgia, without doing something that’s highly illegal: murder,” Thomas said during a meeting in March, according to the affidavit. "...When it comes to saving the Constitution, that means some people gotta die."
Dan Roberts said he knew people in Habersham County who had a substance that could kill people, the affidavit said, and the discussion next turned to ways to obtain castor beans. Castor beans are used to make ricin, a deadly toxin that can be fatal if inhaled or ingested.
During a September meeting, also secretly recorded, Crump said he wanted to make 10 pounds of ricin and disperse it in various U.S. cities, including Atlanta, the affidavits said. Crump said ricin could be blown from a car traveling on the interstates, the affidavit said. Adams is accused of trying to help Crump obtain ricin for use as a weapon, authorities said.
As recently as last week, Crump allegedly said he was going to begin shelling the castor beans, and Adams said he had a formula to make ricin and identified ways to get the necessary ingredients for it, the affidavits said.
Militia members also discussed how to obtain firearms, ammunition and silencers, the FBI affidavit said.
At a meeting in April, Thomas said the “civilian government operatives” the militia members would be targeting included police officers and members of federal law enforcement groups, such as the IRS and FBI, the affidavit said.
"I could shoot ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] and IRS all day long," Thomas said, according to the affidavit. "All the judges and the DOJ [Justice Department], and the attorneys and prosecutors."
In May, Thomas drove with the confidential informant to Atlanta, unaware the other man was secretly recording their conversations. The men conducted surveillance on the local ATF and IRS buildings to plan and assess a possible attack, the FBI affidavit said. “There’s two schools of thought on this: go for the feds or go for the locals,” Thomas said during the trip, the affidavit said. “I’m inclined to consider both.”
The affidavit added that Thomas also said, “We’d have to blow the whole building, like Timothy McVeigh,” referring to the man behind the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. "We gotta have a lot of explosives."
The FBI affidavit noted that the agency's confidential informant, whose name was not disclosed, is out on bond for a pending state felony charge. The FBI gave the informant a polygraph test during the investigation of the militia group, and the informant gave "less than truthful responses" about the militia group's activities, the affidavit said.
A woman who answered the phone at the Thomas residence said his family had "no comment at this time." A woman reached at Adams' residence said she was unaware of the charges and also had no comment. All four men are scheduled to appear before a U.S. magistrate in Gainesville on Wednesday.
Hours after her husband’s arrest, Margaret Roberts and her two children were still in disbelief over the charges filed against Dan Roberts. She said her husband had retired in recent years from the signage industry, and the couple was involved in animal rescue.
Margaret Roberts said she had never met Thomas, but acknowledged Thomas had called her home at least once, and believes she met Crump years ago, but wouldn’t recognize him now. She wasn’t familiar with Adams.
“I don’t know these people,” she said. “I can’t say anything about them, but I know Dan. Dan wouldn’t hurt a fly. And he is not anti-government. He respects the law.”
Margaret Roberts said she was still trying to piece together what transpired Tuesday, and couldn’t comprehend what had taken place at her home.
“It scared me to death,” she said. “Agents were walking around here with guns and rifles. It was something like out of the movies.”