FBI Breaks Up Domestic Right Wing Terror Group

Over the last several days, the FBI has conducted a series of raids in the Michigan, Indiana and Ohio tri-state area arresting the members of a militia group calling itself the Hataree Militia. The group was based in a rural area about equidistant from Detroit, Toledo, Fort Wayne and Lansing. Their plan was to conduct a terror attack against local police, then conduct follow up attacks on their expected funerals (presumably to kill more police officers). The motive was based in a fringe version of fundamentalist Christianity. They blame local police for being "foot soldiers" of the Federal government. So in addition to having what LTG will explain is a twisted theology, they also don't understand the relationship between federalism and law enforcement. I'm sure more details about their ideology and political activities will come out over the next several weeks. I'm guessing the next thing we will hear is that the leaders of this group have been active in the tea-party demonstrations.

After 911, the Republicans insisted on dramatically curtailing civil liberties and increasing and concentrating police powers for the FBI. I predicted then that the right would howl when they eventually lost power and these new police powers were directed against violent groups on the right. The dirty not-so-secret of the Republican party is that while Republicans themselves are not violent, they have lots of mutual friends with groups that are. Look at the Republican reaction to Waco and Oklahoma City. Rather than advocate a crack down on terror groups, they loudly criticized federal law enforcement agencies. And as soon as they got control of the house in 1994, they initiated renewed Congressional investigations of how it was Federal agents' fault that a group of religious fanatics with an enormous, illegal arsenal shot up a bunch of agents and then killed themselves and their own kids. I imagine they'll do the same kind of thing now.