In Michigan, the fringe of the militia movement fringe is now in custody and under indictment after authorities say they were plotting to attack police with improvised explosive devices like those used in Iraq.
According to TPM, the plotters, who belonged to the Christian militia group Hutaree, hoped to incite a rebellion against the government by attacking a funeral procession with the IEDs.
Interestingly, the Hutaree and their plot were so absolutely batshit crazy that even other militia groups decided to aid the FBI in its case, as diarist MeMeMeMeMe pointed out yesterday. Detroit Free Press:
On its Web site, the Michigan Militia denied involvement in the raids.
"HIGANMILITIA.COM nor the SMVM (Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia) have been raided by the FBI. We do nothing illegal," reads a statement on michiganmilitia.com.
Michael Lackomar, a spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, said one of his team leaders got a frantic phone call Saturday evening from members of Hutaree, who said their property in southwest Michigan was being raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
"They said they were under attack by the ATF and wanted a place to hide," Lackomar said. "My team leader said, ‘No thanks.’
The team leader was cooperating with the FBI on Sunday, Lackomar said. He said SMVM wasn’t affiliated with Hutaree.
Each of the nine Hutaree have been charged with seditious conspiracy and other charges that could bring a life sentence.
As Tim F. points out at Balloon Juice, the charges sound exactly like the sort you'd expect against "religious fundamentalist extremists planning mass casualty attacks against America" -- because that's what these folks were doing. So, as Tim asks, are the rightbloggers going to stand up and beat their chests as loudly as they did with Jose Padilla or the Fort Dix Six? Will they proclaim that we should waterboard the Hutaree? Or will it just be crickets?
For additional discussion, check out Kristina40's recommended diary.