Nine Christian Militia Members Charged With Seditious Conspiracy, Attempted Use Of WMD

* By Justin Elliott TPMMuckraker *

Nine members of the Christian militia group Hutaree have been indicted on multiple charges involving an alleged plot to attack police, including seditious conspiracy and attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. Attorney in Michigan announced this morning.

“Six Michigan residents, along with two residents of Ohio and a resident of Indiana, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit 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,” according to the government’s press release, which you can read in full below.

The indictment describes an alleged plot that seems inspired by weapons more associated with urban warfare in Iraq than with rural Michigan.

The Hutaree members allegedly “planned to kill an unidentified member of local law enforcement and then attack the law enforcement officers who gather in Michigan for the funeral.”

The indictment continues: “According to the plan, the Hutaree would attack law enforcement vehicles during the funeral procession with Improvised Explosive Devices with Explosively Formed Projectiles, which, according to the indictment, constitute weapons of mass destruction.”

That attack, in turn, would spark a more widespread Harper’s Ferry-style uprising against the government, according to the “general concept of operations” described in the indictment.

It’s far from clear how close the alleged plot was to fruition.

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