FBI arrests 4 Georgia militia members

ATLANTA - Four suspected members of a fringe north Georgia militia group were arrested Tuesday by federal authorities and charged with plotting to buy explosives and trying to make a deadly toxin in a bizarre plot to attack unnamed government officials.

The four men in their 60s and 70s were part of a group that also tried to obtain an unregistered explosive device and sought out the complex formula to produce ricin, a biological toxin that can be lethal in small doses, according to a federal complaint.

The four listed in the indictment are Frederick Thomas, 73; Dan Roberts, 67; Ray Adams, 65; and Samuel Crump, 68. The men live in the north Georgia towns of Cleveland and Toccoa.

They have been talking about "covert" operations since at least March 2011, according to court records, discussing murder, theft and using toxic agents and assassinations to undermine the state and federal government.

At one meeting, investigators say, Thomas openly discussed creating a "bucket list" of government employees, politicians, corporate leaders and members of the media he felt needed to be "taken out."

"I've been to war, and I've taken life before, and I can do it again," he told an undercover investigator, according to the records.

Thomas' wife, Charlotte, called the charges "baloney."

"He spent 30 years in the U.S. Navy. He would not do anything against his country," she said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

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Thomas and Roberts are accused of buying what they believed was a silencer and an unregistered explosive from an undercover informant in May and June 2011. Prosecutors say he discussed using the weapons in attacks against federal buildings.

Prosecutors say Crump also discussed making 10 pounds of ricin and dispersing it in Atlanta and various cities across the nation. Adams, meanwhile, is accused of showing Crump the formula to make ricin and identifying the ways to obtain the ingredients.

Charlotte Thomas said her husband was arrested in a restaurant in Cornelia, Ga., and federal agents were at her home when she returned from the grocery store Tuesday afternoon. She said the agents wouldn't let her in her home.

"They tore up my house," Thomas said.

She said her husband doesn't have an attorney yet.

Margaret Roberts of Toccoa said FBI agents showed up with a search warrant and went through her home, taking a computer and other items.

She said her husband is retired from the sign business and lives on pensions.

"He's never been in trouble with the law. He's not anti-government. He would never hurt anybody," she said.

Listed numbers for the other two suspects could not be found.

The four men were scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Wednesday. Attorneys for the men were not identified, and the federal defender's office had no immediate comment.

U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said the case is a reminder that "we must also remain vigilant in protecting our country from citizens within our own borders who threaten our safety and security."

[patriot815]

Have any of you who call militia men crazy actually talked to any of them? Most of them are fathers, brothers, sons. How about you talk to them before pointing fingers. They believe in something more than party lines, race, or religion. They believe that all people should be free, just like our forefathers. And when did being a free proud American become a terroristic threat? How about people do more research instead of watching the television. When did the great American thinker become a feeble sheep? This isn't between Democrat and Republican anymore. That is all just show and pazazz. If you don't believe see for yourself. Each person we "elect" into office just makes it worse. For your sake and for your loved ones sakes please wake up America.

[FattestSean]

Religion of Peace! This is why profiling doesn't work. Typical right-wing rural degeneration IME. These old fools have failed at their precious capitalism and seek to blame everyone else but themselves for failing to be rugged enough.

[Anotheryahoo]

These guys were in their late 60s and 70s? sounds like a bunch of Gestapo police state tactics of turning folks into criminals , We need to get the federal govt out of the business of creating criminals. I wonder what the unregistered explosive device was? why isnt it identified? Does this mean that when you look up something on the net you are automatically guilty? and so are those around you? Who is this so called fringe militia group?
I find it amazing how these guys can be sniffed out so easily yet they just cant seem to stop those illegals or drug cartels from strolling across our own borders moving drugs,guns, and what have you. None of this adds up. Could this be the police state trying to show what a great job they are doing sort of like fast and furious look at me?

[ladyang]

Sounds awfully familiar, like the kid in Oregon, who the FBI claimed wanted to blow up a christmas tree. Wait that can't be true, that kid was black and this men are white - never mind!!

[AKAZIP]

"we must also remain vigilant in protecting our country from citizens within our own borders who threaten our safety and security." This is the most telling statement in the entire story. "Look out: your neighbor might be a terrorist". Jeebus, it's time to leave this planet.

[FattestSean]

Well to be fair, until this article, I was only looking at my Muslim neighbours as possible terrorists. Now I see that men who've actually killed for the US government are just as capable.

[rockychance]

Fishy! Something smells terribly fishy about this whole case. I hope the media digs deep into these accusations and does not take anyone's word for what really went on here.