Joshua Stone, the son of the leader of the Christian militia Hutaree who was the ninth person charged in an alleged plot to kill police, has surrendered and will appear in court today, the AP reports.
Stone was previously described as a fugitive.
Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney in Michigan announced that Hutaree leader David Brian Stone — father of Joshua — and his wife, another son, and four others were 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.
In another new development, Donna Stone, the ex-wife of David Stone, gave some insight to the AP on the origins of Hutaree, a group that, judging by its Web site, seemed preoccupied with preparing to battle the Antichrist.
“It started out as a Christian thing. You go to church. You pray. You take care of your family. I think David started to take it a little too far,” Donna Stone told the AP.
One of the charged men, Thomas Piatek of Hammond, Indiana, said in court Monday he doesn’t understand why he was charged. “What they’re alleging and what I’ve done are two different things,” he said, according to the Northwest Indiana Times.
In a statement yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder hailed the arrests.
“The indictment unsealed today outlines an insidious plan by anti-government extremists to murder a law enforcement officer in order to lure police from across the nation to the funeral where they would be attacked with explosive devices,” Holder said. “Thankfully, this alleged plot has been thwarted and a severe blow has been dealt to an dangerous organization that today stands accused of conspiring to levy war against the United States.”
TPMmuckraker’s full coverage of Hutaree is here.
