Subject: "MILITIA VOLUNTEERS PATROL FEDERAL BUILDINGS" Date: Mon, 22 Apr 96 3:33:25 GMT From: mo10cav@aol.com (Mo10Cav) Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Newsgroups: misc.activism.militia Birmingham News, Friday, April 19, 1996. Page 2. "MILITIA VOLUNTEERS TO PATROL STATE'S FEDERAL BUILDINGS" By Carol Robinson, News Staff Writer. As a nation holds its breath that April 19 will not bring another day of death and devastation, some Alabama militia members and supporters will do their part to ensure safety at several of the state's federal buildings. About two dozen volunteers will patrol federal buildings in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile, said Mike Vanderboegh, a board member of Tri-States Militia based in South Dakota. The volunteers are members of Tri-States affiliate militia units, and some will have descriptions and photographs of people who could be a threat to the safety of federal employees. "We have some people we know are loose cannons and belong to fringe and hate groups and we will be watching specifically for them," Vanderboegh said. "Obviously we want to try to prevent an incident from happening but we also want to show our solidarity with federal employees... Terrorism isn't what the militia is about." Vanderboegh said his volunteers will keep watch over federal courthouses, the 2121 Building, which houses the FBI and ATF, and also the Burger-Phillips Centre, which houses several federal agencies including U.S. Customs. The ATF will move to the building this month. Almost immediately after last year's Oklahoma City explosion, suspicion turned to paramilitary groups bent on revenge for the fiery end of the seige at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, In turn, some militia members claimed the federal government orchestrated the bombing to cast blame and discredit militia groups nationwide. Eventually Timothy McVeigh was charged in connection with the case, and federal authorities discounted a direct militia link. April 19, "Patriots Day," is the one day sacred to the militia movement. On that day in 1775, Capt. John Parker of the Lexington Militia Company said, "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." It was also April 19, 1993, that the Waco seige ended when authorities stormed the compound. The resulting fire killed 76, including leader David Koresh. Vanderbeogh said there aren't any local individuals that they know pose a threat, but he said there is some concern about several individuals from Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. "They concern us greatly because they have expressed threats against the federal government, they have outstanding warrants and have even issued 'common law' warrants against federal agents," he said. A truck with 11,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer was stolen last wek in Missouri, and 45 miles south of that location, a stock of dynamite detonators was also stolen, he said. "There's a lot of paranoid predictions about what's going to happen," he said. "I think we'll likely get through the day without incident, but there's no telling about the psychological pressures of copycats." Congress' passage thursday of President Clinton's anti-terrorism bill, dubbed by militia members the "Terror Bill," doesn't help the tension, Vanderbeogh said. "It encourages the fringe and those who want to see this apocalyptic terms," he said. "I pray to God nothing happens." MV NOTE: There are a couple of errors here. Tri-States is (or I should say WAS) a national network whose information center run by the now-discredited John Parsons was in SD, but it was truly a national umbrella group of many units and states. My board membership is up next week, when my resignation takes effect. Tri-States is for all practical purposes dead, killed by John Parsons and the FBI. My positions on both Parsons and the terror Bill are a matter of public record. My resignation letter on Parson's, entitled "The King's Shilling," was widely posted, and I am the principal author of the Open Letter to Dick Armey that caused so much commotion behind the scenes in Washington. (FBI guy's repeated question to me: "What is 'Plan B?'" Ya gotta laugh at our tax dollars at work, buying such idiotic analysis. I mean, isn't English their native language too?")