Undercover cop taped militia training session, ATF says
July 2, 1996
Web posted at: 10:25 p.m. EDTPHOENIX (CNN) -- An undercover policeman witnessed training sessions involving machine-gun practice and detonation of improvised explosives by Viper Militia members charged in a plot to blow up several federal buildings, authorities said Tuesday.
The undercover officer videotaped at least one of the sessions as the militia itself shot footage of planning meetings and a trip during which members allegedly cased federal buildings in downtown Phoenix as potential targets, according to an affidavit filed by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Among the buildings allegedly targeted were the offices of the ATF and FBI. The training reportedly had been going on for two years.
The undercover state police officer became a deputized U.S. marshal to infiltrate the militia for six months, leading to 12 arrests Monday -- 10 men and two women. A 13th suspect was released Tuesday after a search of his home cleared him of direct involvement in the plot.
Eleven of those arrested had initial court appearances Monday before a U.S. magistrate. The 12th, Dean Pleasant, who once ran for the Arizona Senate on the Libertarian Party ticket, was to appear in court late Tuesday.
A detention hearing for the 12 in custody will be held in U.S. District Court Friday. Prosecutors said they probably will play portions of surveillance or seized home videotapes of the group's activities to demonstrate that the militia members are too dangerous to be released on bail.
'New world order'
The affidavit said the undercover officer witnessed or gathered information on training sessions involving the firing of illegal automatic weapons, including 1919-vintage machine guns and detonation of improvised bombs. One made a crater the size of an all-terrain vehicle.
The undercover officer videotaped at least one of these sessions, the affidavit said.
ATF Director John Magaw said on CNN Tuesday that agents seized several home videos -- mostly of the group's meetings. But one showed members supposedly casing buildings as potential targets.
Magaw said the Viper Militia, like members of similar groups, fears that the role of the government in society has become too large. Militia members want to create "a new world order," he said.
"Right now they don't want FBI, ATF, various government agencies," he said. "They don't want to pay their taxes. They're 'anti' what you and I normally would think is acceptable."
U.S. Attorney Janet Napolitano in Arizona said the 12 arrested are charged with conspiracy to commit civil disorder. Some of them also are charged with firearms violations and the illegal possession of weapons.
"We believe that we have the active members in custody now. We have no evidence they are associated with any other group, and no more arrests are expected at this time," she said.
No link to Oklahoma
Police seized more than 400 pounds (180 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate and other bomb-making components in one of three homes that were raided Monday in Phoenix. CNN affiliate KPNX in Phoenix said the explosives were detonated late Monday near Luke Air Force Base in the Arizona desert. (111K QuickTime movie)
About 10 ATF agents spent a second day gathering evidence, including 70 shotguns, rifles and other weapons, large wooden crates and metal boxes.
Napolitano said there was no indication the alleged Viper Militia plot was linked to the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.
The investigation involved the use of an inside informant and later, an undercover police agent, a source told CNN's Mark Feldstein.
Federal sources said that while specific buildings allegedly were cased, none had been picked as an actual target nor had a date been selected for any attack.
Besides Pleasant, those indicated were Randy Lynne Nelson; Finis Howard Walker III; David Wayne Belliveau and his wife, Ellen Adella Belliveau; Gary C. Bauer; Charles Franklin Knight; Henry A. Overturf; Walter Earl Sanville; Scott Jeffery Shero; Donna Star Williams and Christopher Alan Floyd.
The indictment identified Bauer as a key organizer and trainer in the use of explosives.
Related story:
- Feds reveal plot to destroy government buildings - July 1, 1996
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