8.23.99 Leading Militias Help FBI Combat Neo-Nazism, Anarchy Due to Y2K Fears The looming and unavoidable date approaches -- January 1, 2000. The leaders of some of America's largest and most reputable militias are deeply concerned that deranged, Neo-Nazi hate groups such as Aryan Nations, the Order and the "Christian Identity" movement (we KNOW "Christian Identity" has NOTHING to do with Jesus Christ!) are planning use the widespread social disruption which the Y2K computer bug may precipitate as an opportunity for an attempt to unleash a violent, vicious race war and general unbridled terrorism and in the United States and perhaps elsewhere. These rational, non-racist militias take this threat so seriously that they have decided, in the interest of preventing anarchy and severe social uproar and chaos in the country, to cooperate with what has surely been heretofore one of their most serious enemies� the FBI. The FBI has joined forces with an number of the largest and most influential militia groups in the U.S. in an all-out effort to head off what both see as an extremely grave threat from the ultra-fascist, ultra-racist fringe groups dotting the terrain. Lynn VanHuizen, commander of one of the nation's largest and most influential militias, Michigan Militia Corps Wolverines said, "We have no qualms in working with the government against Christian Identity. We've all got to survive to make sure these crazies don't. It's a question of good and evil." VanHuizen's Wolverines have had their own conflicts with the Neo-Nazi psychos already, having had to purge about 300 members from the Wolverine ranks who were linked to white supremacist, racist groups last year, in a move which has resulted in ongoing death threats and the like from the gestapo goons of the Neo-Nazi underworld. The larger, non-racist militias further see that the possibility of extensive terrorism and genocidal "race war" at the hands of these Neo-Nazi lunatics, on top of potential severe social breakdown resulting from the Y2K computer glitch, could well make a full-on "takeover" by New World Order power brokers all the more likely. They see this Neo-Nazi threat as an extremely dangerous aspect of the upcoming Y2K scenario and fell it is vitally important to make sure that these vicious thugs do NOT have an opportunity to use the Y2K debacle to launch their long-desired "race war." In view of such a possibility the reputable, non-racist militias have found it crucial to join forces with FBI to keep such a nightmare from unfolding. Bob Anderson for NewsHawk Inc. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = This appeared in the London SUNDAY TIMES (Aug. 15). http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/99/08/15/stifgnusa02001.html?999 August 15 1999 Militia joins up with FBI to fight anarchy Tom Rhodes Michigan THE commander of America's most powerful militia jumped out of the door half-naked, brandishing a revolver, as I approached his Michigan home. A decorated Vietnam veteran, Lynn VanHuizen, 53, is not a man prone to petty fears; but he is terrified of what the millennium may bring - above all, unwelcome guests. "Sorry about that," he said putting the weapon back inside his trouser band. "You can't be too careful these days." For the leader of the Michigan Militia Corps Wolverines, a 15,000-strong volunteer army, 2000 - and in particular Y2K, the millennium bug that may cripple computers around the globe - is more than just a glitch in the system. He and his militiamen believe it could lead to civil war in America. Their fears are so great that militia leaders are co-operating with their traditional enemy, the FBI, to try to prevent renegade hate groups from launching a racist war and terrorist attacks during any chaos that the bug may unleash. For months, the militiamen have been stockpiling weapons and burying them at strategic locations in readiness. They are leading local efforts to prepare the community for food shortages, for power blackouts and other imponderables. VanHuizen has built a barn on his property to store bottled foods. He has power generators. He is installing tanks for petrol and diesel and he has dug a new well. His fields are planted with vegetables and fruit, and his pens are filled with livestock. He has enough supplies for at least three months and is prepared to feed anyone sympathetic to the cause. "I've even got animals set aside for the National Guard, depending on which side of the fence they fall," said "the General", as he is known. The theories of the militia may sound deeply paranoid, but they are gaining credence. A group that once relied on veterans and farmers to swell its ranks can now count teachers, Buddhists, an Amish family and a member of Mensa among its number. According to the militia commanders, everything may start to falter on September 9 when the computers of the global positioning system, the international satellite-controlled compass system for aircraft and ships, will be confronted by the date 9/9/99, causing it to malfunction. By the end of the year, they predict, the inflated American economy could be in tatters, electricity grids and communications systems will not be working, and supermarkets will be unable to stock their shelves. People will panic, and there will be riots. President Bill Clinton will declare martial law, giving him the right to seize all weapons owned by civilians. In the worst-case scenario, United Nations troops will be called in to enforce the peace. For the Michigan militia and similar volunteer forces, the UN represents multinational corporate interests that threaten American sovereignty. This "new world order", they say, endangers citizens' rights under the constitution, specifically the right to bear arms. "Y2K provides a chance for the new world order to take over - that must not happen in America," said D J Breton, a former Green Beret. "We will not shoot the first round but we will exercise our constitutional rights to defend our families." Breton acts as the militia's state training officer for its nine divisions. His brigades, he says, are ready for anything. He teaches guerrilla warfare, how to set an ambush, the benefits of camouflage and how to kill a man instantly in complete silence. The militiamen also take first aid and nutrition classes, and are well versed in survival tactics and psychological warfare. Breton advises new members on their equipment, including uniforms and weapons. On exercises he tends to carry an AK-47 assault rifle with a 100-round drum, almost 500 spare rounds, a semi-automatic pistol and a hunting knife. The original purpose of the militias was to defend the rights of citizens against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. Most saw their main active service against an overweening crown during the war of independence. The slogan "no taxation without representation" is now used against Washington. The militias won many recruits in the wake of two specific incidents involving federal agents. At Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in 1992, Randy Weaver, a white separatist and anti-federalist, engaged in a stand-off with FBI agents that ended in a gunfight. His wife and son were killed A year later, in Waco, Texas, 80 people, including 18 children, died in a conflagration following the government siege at the compound owned by the Branch Davidians, a separatist sect. Incensed by what they viewed as government aggression, volunteers joined the ranks of the militias and other "patriot" groups. But when a vast fertiliser bomb was subsequently detonated outside federal government offices in Oklahoma City, killing 168, and two militia supporters, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, were convicted, the group saw a dramatic fall in membership. "We were made out to be something we are not," said Tom Wayne, the militia's executive officer, whose wife left him as a result of Oklahoma. "It was a very bad time for us." A far more frightening collection of individuals has since filled the vacuum, however: the racist and anti-semitic zealots of the so-called "Christian Identity", who include members of the Aryan Nations, neo-Nazi skinheads and a virulent offshoot of the Ku Klux Klan. At a recent meeting in Missouri, Robert McCurry, an Identity "minister", declared a state of emergency. "I want to tell you that war rages in America. The enemy is not coming, the enemy is here," he said. "God has ordained that his people be a warring people. Lord of Hosts means lord of a mass of people organised for war." It was a member of Aryan Nations - Buford Furrow, 37, an unemployed mechanic - who wounded five people last week in a Los Angeles Jewish community centre and murdered a Filipino postal worker - a "non-white target of opportunity" - as he fled police. Such racism angers the Michigan men. "I would never have thought that this country could become a centre for ethnic cleansing," said the silver-haired VanHuizen, as he sat in the gun shop he owns at Muskegan on the shores of Lake Michigan. "I think we will be forced to take these groups out - to kill them, if necessary." He and his senior commanders have received regular death threats from Christian Identity members in Michigan since the militia last year purged its ranks, court-martialling those associated with white supremacy. As many as 300 left to join more radical groups. "We're very careful about who joins," said Wayne. "Some of these people just want a war." The FBI has begun to recognise that these new groups pose a far greater threat than the traditional anti-government militias that they have been monitoring so rigorously. And federal agents have been reaching out to groups such as the Michigan militia to enlist their help in averting acts of violence. It is a large step for these militiamen to begin to trust federal agents who have spent so many years staking out their homes, tapping their telephones and harassing their families. But their conviction in an impending catastrophe brought on by the millennium and the fear that it will provide an opportunity for the rise of renegade hate groups have made them unusual bedfellows, united in the defence of traditional liberties. "We have no qualms in working with the government against Christian Identity," said VanHuizen. "We've all got to survive to make sure these crazies don't. It's a question of good and evil." ----------------------------------------- Copyright 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from The Sunday Times, visit the Syndication website.
