Rome News Tribune – by John Bailey
Three Rome men accused of conspiring to obtain explosives now face a much more serious domestic terrorism charge — conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
Terry Eugene Peace, Brian Edward Cannon and Cory Robert Williamson on Monday waived arraignment and pleaded not guilty to the domestic terrorism charge as well as charges of conspiring to defraud the government.
Use of weapons of mass destruction can carry up to a life term in prison in this case, according to the law website Justia.com.
According to the indictment and criminal complaint:
Peace, Cannon and Williamson — all members of a militia in Georgia — participated in online chat discussions between Jan. 23 and Feb. 15, 2014, that were monitored by the FBI.
During the conversations online, they discussed using guerilla war tactics and planned to launch attacks against a metro Atlanta police station and several government agencies in February 2014.
The three men attempted to “recruit other individuals to join them and to carry out similar operations in those individuals’ home states.”
Peace allegedly told other militia members to choose targets including “road blocks, TSA checkpoints, sheriffs/police conducting operations outside the Constitution” as well as to participate in the “removal of government people who support extra-Constitutional activities.”
In February 2014, the men traveled from Rome to Tennessee for a meeting with an undercover FBI source about getting several explosive devices, including a thermite-mix charge and a dozen pipe bombs constructed for “maximum fragmentation.”
Phone conversations with an informant recorded Peace requesting explosives and telling the informant the devices were a “key element” to their plan.
The men were arrested in Cartersville on Feb. 15, 2014, when they took possession of inert explosives and other material given to the source by the FBI.
The three were originally arraigned in March 2014 on a charge of conspiracy to receive and possess a destructive device. The new indictment and charge supersedes the previous indictment.
Government attorneys said in open court the new charge of use of weapons of mass destruction had to be approved by an agency in Washington, D.C., before they could pursue the new indictment of the three men.
Lawyers for the three men declined to comment on the new charge.
A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20.
These charges stem from an event (FBI sting) that is nearly a year old. I always marvel at the way some folks STILL pursue others who may be like minded via internet blogs and the like. One cannot fix stupid. Yeah, they were disgruntled, but hey we all are. THEY were STUPID as well. That is the big NoNo.
You have to realize that no matter how many you recruit to help, no matter how much C4 you have, you are not going to get them all with one lick, anyway… Just one at a time is the best we are going to do. You have to recognize that it is an individual thing, and yeah–you are going to die. So– When you conclude that it’s time to shoot, then SHOOT…don’t talk….
nuff said.
What kind of darn fool would plan something like this and talk about it on line? Everyone with more than 2 brain cells to rub together knows the government monitors all emails, facebook and every other electronic communication.
“the new charge of use of weapons of mass destruction”
They didnt use it. So wtf?
Yea, I know. It makes about as much sense as being charged with assaulting a police officer when all the person did was use his dump truck to run over a squad car that was empty. 😉
Your example is so much more funny because it happened.
Hutaree copy & paste by the looks of it.
“In February 2014, the men traveled from Rome to Tennessee for a meeting with an undercover FBI source about getting several explosive devices, including a thermite-mix charge and a dozen pipe bombs constructed for “maximum fragmentation.””
Kinda makes me wonder if the FBI, once again, manufactured their own crisis and then arrested the three guys as patsies to make themselves look like they did something.
“Three Rome men accused of conspiring to obtain explosives now face a much more serious domestic terrorism charge — conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.”
Remember when nukes were only considered weapons of mass destruction. Now it’s anything from C4 to pipe bombs or a big gun. It’s getting pathetic. Next thing you know, they will declare a car a weapon of mass destruction if a drunk driver happens to ram into a building and kills some people.
Had a friend who got tagged with 1000 counts of illegal explosive charges for firecrackers in Nazi Jersey.
My point exactly.