foment revolution against the U.S. government was part of that dream.

Michigan-based religious militia group plotted to kill cops

By Niraj Warikoo, Ben Schmitt, and Eric D. Lawrence - Detroit Free Press (MCT)

A tense standoff that ended with the arrest of a ninth member of a multistate Christian militiaMonday night capped the end of a three-day raid that had federal and state authorities combing rural areas along the state line.

Joshua M. Stone of Clayton was arrested in Hillsdale County just after 8 p.m., a day after authorities say he took up hiding in a former militia training area about 2 miles from WheatlandChurch in Wheatland Township, said Andrew Arena, head of the Detroit FBI office.

Federal authorities say the 21-year-old was a member of a militia group known as Hutaree, or Christian warrior, that plotted to kill a police officer sometime in April and hide homemade bombs along the funeral processional route in hopes of taking out scores of others.

Two Ohio residents suspected of being part of the plot and currently under arrest are Kristopher Sickles, 27, of Sandusky and Jacob Ward, 33, of Huron.

Apocalyptic thinking

Hutaree operated out of a double-wide trailer near rural Clayton.

Their members had nicknames like Capt. Hutaree, Mouse and Pale Horse, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.

They viewed police officers as the “brotherhood,” or enemy, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.

And they considered themselves warriors: men and women ready to battle with Jesus against the forces of evil in the end of times.

To Hutaree — targeted by federal authorities in weekend raids in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois — that time was coming soon. And their plot to kill police in an effort to foment revolution against the U.S. government was part of that dream.

Their views are part of a tradition of apocalyptic thinking that can turn violent. Today, with changes in government and society — like a poor economy and the nation’s first African-American president — such activity is increasing in the U.S., experts said.


The number of extremist anti-government groups and militias jumped from 149 in 2008 to 512 in 2009, said Heidi Beirich, director of research at the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights group that monitors extremism.


To Hutaree, the war against the government is rooted in its faith.


“He’s not violent at all,” she said. Prosecutors maintain Stone Jr. “served as an explosives instructor and demonstrator” who participated in planning and training.


Lackomar said the man who denied Hutaree happens to be Muslim and once tried to train with Hutaree but was denied admittance because of his religion. There were some rumors over the weekend that Hutaree was planning to attack Muslim Americans, but there is no mention of that in the indictment.