Militiamen found guilty; face long sentences
Source: Anchorage Daily News
An Anchorage jury convicted Fairbanks militia leader Schaeffer Cox and two of his confederates on most of the charges they faced, leaving them looking at the possibility of long prison terms when they are sentenced in September.
As the verdicts were read aloud Monday by U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan, Cox's eyes darted from juror to juror and then to the full courtroom, returning again to the jurors, and he grew more agitated as the guilty verdicts piled up. The jurors appeared to avert his gaze. When the 21 separate verdicts were in the books and each juror polled by the judge to ensure the record was correct, Cox erupted.
<snip>
Cox created the Alaska Peacemaker Militia as a uniformed and heavily armed force. At times he described it as a defensive organization, but also declared its members could open fire first on government agents who had drawn down on them. It was also the militia that would implement the "241" plan.
With those organizations, prosecutors said, Cox had created the foundation of an alternative government and the ability to use force to attempt to put in place. The defense argued that Cox never posed an imminent threat to civil order and, with Barney and Vernon, operated within constitutional limits.
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2012/06/18/2510097/militia-jury-deadlocked-on-one.html
These are the friends of the Palins and Joe Miller who were plotting to kill judges, etc.
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)Erose999
(5,624 posts)proud2BlibKansan
(96,793 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)The defense attorney's claim that this was about denying free speech is bogus from their own words. They intended revenge.
Fairbanks militia's '241' killing plan was secretly recorded
The idea of taking an "eye for an eye" a step further than the Bible -- two killings or two private arrests for every killing or arrest of a militia member -- arose at a "staff meeting" of the leadership of the Alaska Peacemaker Militia in February 2011. The meeting took place in a converted school bus that militia major Ken Thesing called home and was attended by militia commander Schaeffer Cox, another major, Coleman Barney, and a sergeant, Gerald Olson...
From there, it goes into detail of how they will carry out the killings with some arguments, but this part struck me as particularly vile:
"We're talking about everyone involved in this," Vernon said. He would only agree to not go after children "in the first round."
As for the adults, "they're going to get one," Vernon said. "They can put up all the people around their houses, all the snipers they want. One way or the other, they won't know when it'll happen."
http://www.adn.com/2012/05/22/2475937/fairbanks-militias-241-plan-secretly.html
Can't tell if this is the same outfit Palin was associated with, which was a polticial party, but there are things in common. Palin's church group had the same doomsday mentality, Christian Dominionism beliefs. This group was affiliated with state groups so this may not be the end of this.
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)or AIP, which is a separate entity, although with certain philosophical similarities. Schaeffer Cox (full name "Francis Schaeffer Cox" was named after the right-wing evangelist, so I'm sure he was steeped in this stuff from childhood.
Gabby Hayes
(289 posts)Thanks for posting this. The conversation the juror was having with readers in the comments section of The Anchorage Daily News article was remarkable.
Erose999
(5,624 posts)Ian David
(69,059 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Dustlawyer
(10,497 posts)thecrow
(5,519 posts)but his ideology was much broader, combining evangelical Christianity, a sense of an impending national collapse, and the assertion that the state and federal government held no authority over him."
Christians? With guns? Isn't that an oxymoron?
They need to be locked up a real long time.