Homegrown Retired Senior Terrorism?

On Wednesday, the strange news flew across the nation’s wires that four men from Georgia, in their upper-sixties and early-seventies, had been arrested on Tuesday for an alleged plot to attack state and federal officials and buildings. The fantastic story involves Frederick Thomas, 73, of Cleveland, GA, Dan Roberts, 67, of Toccoa, GA, Ray H. Adams, 65, of Toccoa, and Samuel J. Crump, 68, of Toccoa.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), they are accused of planning to procure an unregistered explosive device and a silencer and to manufacture the bio-toxin ricin for use against fellow American citizens, some of whom happen to be state and federal government officials.

To say this strikes me as beyond bizarre is an understatement. What little information we have about these men, much of which is alleged by the FBI, leaves me wondering what the men could possibly have been hoping to achieve if they really did what the feds say they did.

According to the FBI press release,

“U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Sally Quillian Yates said, ‘These defendants, who are alleged to be part of a fringe militia group, are charged with planning attacks against their own fellow citizens and government. To carry out their agenda, two of the defendants allegedly purchased purported explosives and a silencer, while the other two defendants took steps to attempt to produce a deadly biological toxin. While many are focused on the threat posed by international violent extremists, this case demonstrates that we must also remain vigilant in protecting our country from citizens within our own borders who threaten our safety and security.’”

So, right off the bat, this woman has to interject one of the editorial talking points of the Left when it comes to terrorism: See?! American white guys are every bit as dangerous as the Muslim terrorists! Of course, she did not use the M-word, but instead called them “international violent extremists.” Do not misunderstand me here, but this case is a dream come true for the Left—the same Left that constantly and aggressively downplays the very real, very common occurrence of Muslim terrorism. In this reportedly “homegrown,” non-Muslim case, they can feel they are “vindicated” in their false accusations against many American patriots who stand against the communist agenda of this radical Obama administration and the Democrats and some Republicans in Congress. Never mind that authorities routinely bust Muslim terror plots here and around the world (those that do not succeed, that is), but we rarely see non-Muslim, American citizens engaged in terror plots against this nation, or any other nation, for that matter.

You surely remember back shortly after Obama took office that his Department of Homeland Security issued the report, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” That report blew up in their face, so to speak. The outrage across the nation exploded when details of the report were released, details that painted many millions of ordinary, law-abiding conservatives as potential enemies of the state.

As the Washington Times reported at the time,

“The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement officials about a rise in ‘rightwing extremist activity,’ saying the economic recession, the election of America’s first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans could swell the ranks of white-power militias.

A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines ‘rightwing extremism in the United States’ as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority.

‘It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single-issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration,’ the warning says.”

We were right to be outraged by such ridiculous warnings. If we oppose abortion or illegal immigration or happen to be a returning war veteran, we were deemed a potential threat to our country. In the wake of our outrage, the mannish Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano firmly stood by the report.

Thus far, there is no indication that these four older men where upset that there is a half-black man in the White House. These men are not currently returning war veterans, although one of them, Frederick Thomas, reportedly spent 30 years in the Navy. There is no indication these men were allegedly planning these attacks because they opposed abortion or illegal immigration.

The FBI report does not go into detail about the supposed motivations of these four men, except to say that Mr. Thomas wanted to punish state and federal authorities for “treasonous” activities. The FBI report is mostly a dry run-down of their surveillance work through a confidential informant.

As the FBI reported,

“According to the criminal complaints, federal search warrants and documents in the public record, Thomas, Roberts, Crump, Adams and others were members of a militia organization and began participating in clandestine meetings of a fringe ‘covert’ operations team starting in approximately March 2011. During these meetings, the complaints charge that the men discussed multiple criminal activities, ranging from murder; theft; manufacturing and using toxic agents; and assassinations in an effort to undermine federal and state government and to advance their interests.”

If these men are guilty of these accusations, I am certainly astonished. What did they hope to achieve? How did they imagine they could possibly succeed? How did they justify killing their fellow American citizens who might have been unfortunate enough to be in the “wrong place at the wrong time”? How did they think that destroying government buildings and killing public officials would ever in a million years advance whatever “cause” they may have?

I suppose there really are people stupid or deluded enough to think this sort of thing would solve their problems, and while I can easily imagine young men conceiving such notions, I find it much harder to believe men of their advanced ages would be so foolish, but I know it is certainly possible.

Fox News online has a story that reports Frederick Thomas’ wife, Charlotte, calls the terror charges against her husband “baloney.” She claims that he served in the Navy for 30 years and “would not do anything against his country.”

Dan Roberts’ wife, Margaret,

“… said FBI agents showed up with a search warrant and went through her home, handcuffing her and taking a computer and other items. She said her husband is retired from the sign business and lives on pensions.

‘He’s never been in trouble with the law. He’s not anti-government. He would never hurt anybody,’ she said.”

The Fox News story also reports that this plot was supposedly inspired by an anti-government novel,

“Authorities said the group intended to use the plot of the novel ‘Absolved,’ written by Mike Vanderboegh, a blogger who has closely followed the botched federal investigation known as ‘Fast and Furious.’ He also runs a whistleblower website called Sipsey Street Irregulars.

In a Wednesday posting on that website, Vanderboegh claimed he was not responsible for the alleged plot.

‘Absolved is fiction,’ the posting read. ‘I hope it is a ‘useful dire warning.’ However, I am as much to blame for the Georgia Geriatric Terrorist Gang as Tom Clancy is for Nine Eleven.’”

That just makes this story even more bizarre! It is amazing to me that elderly men could be so impressionable that they would be willing to essentially throw away the rest of their lives after being inspired by work of fiction!

Writing for the TPM Muckraker website, Ryan J. Reilly reported,

“Thomas, who allegedly led the meeting, mentioned a fictional novel he read online in which an anti-government group killed a large number of Justice Department attorneys.

… Thomas allegedly thought Vanderboegh’s fictional plot would work pretty well in real life.

‘Now of course, that’s just fictional, but that’s a damn good idea,’ Thomas allegedly said of Vanderboegh’s novel. An FBI affidavit said he described a scenario in which there would be a ‘line in the sand’ that could result in the activation of militias. He allegedly claimed he compiled a ‘bucket list’ of government employees, politicians, corporate leaders and members of the media who would needed [sic] to be ‘taken out’ to ‘make the country right again.’

Thomas allegedly said that there ‘is no way for us, as militiamen, to save this country, to save Georgia, without doing something that’s highly highly illegal. Murder. That’s f****** illegal, but it’s gotta be done,’ Thomas allegedly said.

‘When it comes time to saving the Constitution, that means some people gotta die,’ Thomas allegedly said.”

Mr. Reilly’s report also included this interesting bit of information,

“While the FBI says it has plenty of recorded material implicating the defendants, there’s one issue in the affidavits that could provide fodder for defense attorneys. One of the cooperating sources, out [on] bond on pending felony state charges, gave ‘less than truthful’ responses during an FBI polygraph test about the investigation of the militia group.”

So, the FBI’s confidential informant is a dishonest felon? This is interesting, indeed!

Of course, I am not naïve enough to think older men could not be foolish enough to undertake such a desperate and wicked mission, but I do find it hard to swallow. There is no doubt that our country is in dire straits and that our government and courts are corrupt to the core, but this is not the 18^th century, and with our modern-day surveillance capabilities, our highly organized law enforcement entities will surely squash any such rag-tag groups that would attempt to wreak havoc in this nation.

Neither is violence against the evil powers-that-be going to accomplish a glorious return to constitutionally limited government. Violence against the crooks in power will only backfire on the people who attempt it; not only that, but it could cause the rest of us to lose even more of our freedoms than we already have.

We will watch this case unfold over the coming weeks, and I hope it will be a lesson to discourage any would-be “militiamen” who believe that violence will win the war for the soul of our nation, because that could not be further from the truth.

Gina Miller, a native of Texas, is a radio commentator. She also works with her husband installing and repairing residential irrigation systems and doing landscaping on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.