Christianist "Warrior" Militants Raided by FBI

With the rise of the tea party crowd and the increased hysteria among some of the professional Christian set, I guess it was only a matter of time before some of the more unhinged among the false Christians would move on to violence and murder. As multiple media outlets are reporting, the FBI and other law enforcement officers have taken into custody all but one of a group of militant Christianists who were plotting to murder a law enforcement officer and then attack the victim's funeral procession in order to kill more police and law enforcement officials. A copy of the federal indictment can be read here. It is mind boggling how the Gospel of loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself has become so perverted by self-anointed Christians. In my opinion, too many people continue to turn a blind eye to these prospective domestic terrorists who seem more defined by those they hate than their desire to follow the Gospel message of Christ. As much as the Republicans - i.e., think Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Ken Cuccinelli, et al - would like to deny any responsibility, their false allegations against Democrats, gays, progressives, Hispanics and those they label as "other" can only have served to motivate individuals like those covered by the indictment. Here are highlights from CNN (Gawker also has details):
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Nine people federal prosecutors say belong to a "Christian warrior" militia were accused Monday of plotting to kill a Michigan law enforcement officer and then attack other police at the funeral.
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Six Michigan residents, two residents of Ohio and an Indiana resident were indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit, Michigan, on charges of seditious conspiracy, attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, teaching the use of explosive materials and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade and FBI Special Agent in Charge Andrew Arena announced.
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All but one of the suspects -- Joshua Matthew Stone, the 21-year-old son of the militia's leader -- were in custody by Monday morning and seven of them made their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald A. Scheer, prosecutors said.
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The five-count indictment unsealed Monday charges that between August 2008 and the present, the defendants, acting as a Lenawee County, Michigan, militia group called the Hutaree, conspired to use force to oppose the authority of the U.S. government.
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Attorney General Eric Holder called it "an insidious plan by anti-government extremists." The group says on its Web site that Hutaree means "Christian warrior" and proclaims on its home page, "Preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive."
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In the "About Us" section of the Hutaree Web site, the group says, "We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ. All Christians must know this and prepare, just as Christ commanded."
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According to the indictment, Hutaree members view local, state and federal law enforcement authorities as the enemy and have been preparing to engage them in armed conflict.
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The indictment alleges that the Hutaree planned to kill an unidentified law enforcement officer in Michigan and then attack officers and others who would gather for the funeral. According to the plan, the indictment says, the Hutaree wanted to use improvised explosive devices to attack law enforcement vehicles during the funeral procession. The indictment says those explosive devices, commonly called IEDs, constitute weapons of mass destruction.
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Subsequently, the indictment says, Hutaree leader David Brian Stone obtained information about IEDs over the Internet and e-mailed diagrams to a person he believed could manufacture them. He then had one of his sons, Joshua Matthew Stone, and others gather materials necessary to manufacture IEDs, the indictment alleges.
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Sadly, the Hutaree actions are the logical extension of the constant hysterics and disingenuous dissemination of falsehoods by groups like The Family Foundation, Traditional Values Coalition, The American Family Association, Family Research Council, and Focus on the Family, not to mention the talking head of the ultra far right like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh