Reuters: U.S.: Two militia group members plead guilty to weapons charges

Reuters: U.S. Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Two militia group members plead guilty to weapons charges Mar 29th 2012, 15:46 DETROIT | Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:43am EDT DETROIT (Reuters) - Two days after a federal judge dismissed a massive conspiracy case charging seven members of a Midwest militia group with plotting to wage war against the U.S. government, the group's leader and one of his sons pleaded guilty Thursday to one weapons charge each. David Brian Stone Sr., the leader of the group called the Hutaree, and his son Joshua Stone each pleaded guilty before Judge Victoria Roberts in federal court in Detroit to possession of a machine gun, two years after they were jailed. The seven members of the group known as the Hutaree were arrested two years ago this week after an undercover operation by the FBI and charged with plotting a violent revolt against the U.S. government using weapons of mass destruction. On Tuesday, Roberts took the unusual step of dismissing all major charges against the militia members before the defense case was heard. Prosecutors alleged that as part of their plan, the Hutaree plotted to kill law enforcement officers as a way to incite a wider rebellion against the U.S. government. Much of the evidence against the six men and one woman consisted of audio and video recordings made by an undercover agent and a paid informant who infiltrated the group. In the recordings, David Stone Sr. repeatedly made statements describing law enforcement as the enemy, discussed the killing of police officers and argued for the need to go to war against the government. Defense attorneys had argued that what the seven had engaged in was protected by their free speech rights. Roberts agreed. It is unusual for a judge to take the case out of the hands of the jury and dismiss the charges and her ruling is a setback for the federal government, which has been warning of the growing threat of violence from such groups. The Hutaree trial was the latest example of the U.S. government prosecuting what it views as a growing threat of violence from home-grown militias. Until the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington carried out by al Qaeda, the largest such attack on American soil was the 1995 bombing of a government building in Oklahoma City by anti-government zealot Timothy McVeigh that killed 168 people. The FBI warned in early February that anti-government extremists posed a growing threat to local law enforcement officers. As of late 2011, there were about 250 active militia groups in the United States, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The Hutaree is classified as a militia, the league said. (Reporting by James B. Kelleher; Editing by David Bailey and Vicki Allen) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions