Here Come Da Judge

[Doc Loco]

I don't know what they did, but whatever it was it got someone's attention.

 

ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) — The FBI says agents have conducted weekend raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, and at least three people have been arrested.

 

Federal warrants are sealed, but FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said Sunday there has been "law enforcement activity" in southwest Michigan. She wouldn't say whether they were tied to the raids in the other states.

 

FBI spokesman Scott Wilson in Cleveland says agents arrested two people Saturday in Ohio. A third arrest was made in Illinois on Sunday, a day after raids in Indiana.

 

Michael Lackomar, spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, says a member of his group was called by members of a religious militia Saturday who claimed their property was being raided. Lackomar says the SMVM member declined to help and is cooperating with the FBI.

[Doc Loco]

I don't know what they did, but whatever it was it got someone's attention.

 

ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) — The FBI says agents have conducted weekend raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, and at least three people have been arrested.

 

Federal warrants are sealed, but FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said Sunday there has been "law enforcement activity" in southwest Michigan. She wouldn't say whether they were tied to the raids in the other states.

 

FBI spokesman Scott Wilson in Cleveland says agents arrested two people Saturday in Ohio. A third arrest was made in Illinois on Sunday, a day after raids in Indiana.

 

Michael Lackomar, spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, says a member of his group was called by members of a religious militia Saturday who claimed their property was being raided. Lackomar says the SMVM member declined to help and is cooperating with the FBI.

More info looks like Zealots:

 

FBI spokesman Scott Wilson in Cleveland said agents arrested two people Saturday after raids in two towns in Ohio. A third arrest was made in northeast Illinois on Sunday, a day after a raid took place just over the border in northwest Indiana.

 

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, a Christian militia group, 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, which states on its Web site to be "prepared to defend all those who belong to Christ and save those who aren't."

 

"We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ. All Christians must know this and prepare, just as Christ commanded," the group's Web site said. "Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment.

 

An e-mail sent to the group by The Associated Press wasn't returned Sunday, and phone numbers for the group's leadership were not immediately available.

 

Berchtold, the FBI spokeswoman in Michigan, said she could neither confirm nor deny whether the raids were connected to Hutaree.

 

Lackomar said none of the raids focused on his group, which is affiliated with the Michigan Militia, a larger militia umbrella group. Lackomar said about eight to 10 members of Hutaree trained with SMVM twice in the past three years. SMVM holds monthly training sessions focusing on survival training and shooting practice, Lackomar said.

 

FBI agents in Ohio made arrests in Huron and Sandusky on Saturday night, Wilson said. No further information would be released until after they appeared in court Monday, he said.

 

One of the raids occurred at Bayshore Estates, a trailer park in Sandusky, a small city on Lake Erie between Toledo and Cleveland, park manager Terry Mills said. Authorities blocked off the street for about an hour Saturday night, he said.

 

"Needless to say, this has everyone talking," said Mills, 62. "We have a lot of retirees here who don't want all this commotion."

 

Mills said he didn't know the identity of the person arrested.

[Doc Loco]

BIT BY BIT...looks like firearm charges forthcoming,

 

George Ponce, 18, who works at a pizzeria next door to a home raided in Hammond, Ind., said he and a few co-workers stepped outside for a break Saturday night and saw a swarm of law enforcement.

 

"I heard a yell, 'Get back inside!' and saw a squad member pointing a rifle at us," Ponce said. "They told us the bomb squad was going in, sweeping the house looking for bombs."

 

He said another agent was in the bushes near the house, and law enforcement vehicles were "all over." He estimated that agents took more than two dozen guns from the house.

 

In Michigan, police swarmed a rural, wooded property around 7 p.m. Saturday outside Adrian, about 70 miles southwest of Detroit, said Evelyn Reitz, who lives about a half-mile away. She said several police cars, with lights flashing, were still there Sunday evening and 15 to 20 officers were stationed in the area.

 

Neighbor Jane Cattell said she came home from the movies Saturday night and a helicopter was circling above, its spotlight illuminating her house. She and her sister, Sarah Holtz, wouldn't say who lived in the home but said they knew them from riding their horses past their house.

 

"They're your average, nice neighbors," Holtz said.

 

There were rumors about ties to a militia, but Holtz she knew nothing of that from her interaction with them.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Doc Loco