Nine Indicted in Plot to Ambush and Murder Police

By aaroncynic in News on Mar 29, 2010 5:40PM

Eight people arrested over the weekend were indicted today along with a ninth man in connection with a potential domestic terror plot. The accused are members of the Hutaree, a right wing Christian militia group based in Lenawee County, Michigan. The indictment charges that those in question have been conducting military style training in order to prepare for an impending war with the Hutaree’s enemies, which include the federal government, state and local law enforcement. The Hutaree, self appointed “Christian warriors” who believe they’re “preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive,” were planning to touch off a confrontation with local law enforcement in the hopes of igniting a larger uprising against the government.

The indictment [PDF] details a plot to ambush, kidnap or kill a member of law enforcement and follow the murder with a larger attack on the subsequent funeral. The accused Hutaree planned on using road side IED’s and other explosives to attack the motorcade, which they hoped would lead law enforcement into a trap. The indictment then reads “it is believed by the Hutaree that this engagement would then serve as a catalyst for a more wide-spread uprising against the Government.”

A northwest Indiana man was among the Hutaree members arrested. According to the Tribune, Thomas Piatek was arrested Sunday in Clarendon Hills. Piatek maintained at his hearing this morning that he isn’t the same Thomas Piatek mentioned in the indictment. However, his home in Whiting, Indiana was raided by the FBI where agents reportedly took more than two dozen guns from the house, according to the Sun Times. Federal agents also raided homes in Ohio and Michigan. The nine Hutaree, one of whom is still at large, are charged with seditious conspiracy, attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, teaching the use of explosive materials and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.