The Waffle House Senior Citizen Gun Nut Terrorist Plot

[SecularMotion]

Four North Georgia senior citizens may have redefined what it means to have a senior moment. Were four old guys sitting around eating waffles and just blowing smoke, or were they really interested in a final shot at immortality? If the allegations that they planned to assassinate government officials and wreak havoc on the city of Atlanta are true, those seniors' "bucket list" contained a heap of militia movement mayhem.

According to government officials, Frederick Thomas, 73, of Cleveland, Ga.; Dan Roberts, 67, Ray Adams, 65, and Samuel Crump, 68, all of Toccoa, were involved in a plot to attack federal office buildings and to disperse a deadly biological poison in Atlanta (http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/A_U.S.%20news/Crime%20&%20courts/GAmilitia.pdf).

"Their alleged plot was revealed to the FBI by a confidential informant last spring, and members of the group have been meeting since May with someone they thought was a black-market weapons dealer but who turned out to be an undercover federal agent, according to court documents," NBC News' Pete Williams reported.

"I'd say the first ones that need to die is the ones in the government buildings," Adams was overheard saying in an April 16 meeting, according to the FBI. "When it comes down to it, I can kill somebody," he allegedly said.

http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframerss.php?linkid=9964

[SteveM]

1. "Ricin, botulism, pesticides, biologic nuts" doesn't have the "gun nut" ring...

does it? Definitely nutty, but sounds like they anticipated using weapons other than guns, from reading the court documents.

But, hey, agendas are agendas.

;-)

[SecularMotion]

2. Did you miss this?

The FBI also alleges that, "Thomas, Roberts and others discussed the need to obtain unregistered silencers and explosive devices for use in attacks against federal government buildings and employees, as well as against local police."

and this

The seniors, who according to Mother Jones' Stephanie Mencimer, were meeting regularly at Waffle House, were apparently inspired by Mike Vanderboegh's novel Absolved; a book that isn't published except for a few chapters that appear online.

Vanderboegh participated in last year's "open carry" gun gathering at Ft. Hunt, Virginia, where a small group got as close as they could to the nation's capital to push for looser gun laws. Mencimer reported that, "Vanderbough claimed to be just 'a fat, old scribbler with congestive heart failure and diabetic feet.' But he gave a fiery speech at the event that was an invitation to violence. Vanderboegh proclaimed that he was trying to 'get the attention of people who are pushing the country towards civil war and that they should back off before someone gets hurt." He led the crowd in cheers of 'Oh HELL no!' and warned that 'there are going to be consequences for pushing people like us back.'"

[SteveM]

4. In 26 pages of bio/chemical weaponry I missed "unregisted silencers"...

From the title, I thought you were not in support of a robust Second Amendment.

Being disabused of that notion, what do you think about the relative dangers of biological/chemical attacks, compared with even a successful mall spree shooting? What laws would you suggest regulating and controlling some of the stuff mentioned in the court document? Would bans be appropriate? Can we extend such actions to those contemplating, say, "fertilizer" bombs, as in OK City?

[SecularMotion]

6. I'm a liberal. I support robust gun control.

[SteveM]

7. I'm liberal/left. I support a robust 2A...

Always keep in mind that the association of gun-control with liberalism is a force-fit, and that the Moody Blues had their first hit album before any mention was made about "gun control" in the Democratic Party Platform.

[SecularMotion]

9. Always keep in mind that support for a "robust" 2A

is more popular among right wing republican NRA supporters than Democrats.

[SteveM]

10. Oh, I do. And we liberal/leftists are changing the mind-set...

that gun-control/prohibition is a "liberal" or progressive issue. I rather suspect that, as a popular non-scientific survey held in DU a few years back indicated, most DUers own or have access to a firearm. That survey is in the archives. Here is a scientific survey:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/150353/self-reported-gun-ownership-highest-1993.aspx

Please note the rate of ownership in the above-cited link which measures by party or party "leaning," and you will see where the greatest rise in ownership is occurring. This might be explained by a growing "conservatism" among Democrats; but it might also be explained by the lifting of the veil of moral condemnation and misinformation which gun-controllers have relied upon for the last 25-30 years. There could be other reasons. Please also note the rise among women.

[SecularMotion]

11. Owning or having access to a firearm is not an indication of political belief

nor an indication of support for a "robust" 2nd amendment. Although, support for a "robust" 2nd amendment is more popular among radical right wing NRA supporters.

[LeftinOH]

3. Most (or maybe even all of them) were retired government workers or contractors. n/t

[vcc]

5. i fear we'll see much more of this and it'll try to latch onto OWS.

Given these kinds of groups with this much raw hatred, I am not surprised authorities are on high alert.

[SteveM]

8. IMO, the best way to deal with agent provacateurs, FUs, etc....

is for OWS protesters to be on the look out for them, and to find out what they are about first. We did this in the 60s, and got good enough at it to I.D. government agents and point them out before our rallys. For interlopers, drunk FUs, surround them in a non-confrontation and subtle manner, and call for the police as necessary. It pays to be inclusive; it doesn't pay to be promiscuously open.

Most of the problem is with transients, barroom FUs, and petty thugs. The people mentioned in this article are not very common.