Accused Mont. Militiamen Plead Innocent

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=720&e=3&u=/ap/20040508/ap_on_re_us/militia_ ^ | Sat May 8, 2004 | story.news.yahoo.com

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Accused Mont. Militiamen Plead Innocent

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - Three men who allegedly belong to a militia group that authorities say was plotting to kill Montana public officials have pleaded innocent to federal firearms charges.

Steven N. Morey, 44, James Riley Day, 60, and John W. Slatter, 53, appeared in court Friday and were ordered held pending detention hearings Wednesday.

Federal authorities say the men, all of the Kalispell area, are suspected of belonging to a militia group called "Project 7," which refers to Flathead County license plate numbers that begin with the numeral seven.

In 2002, authorities said they had uncovered evidence of a plot by Project 7 to kill Flathead Valley public officials and law enforcement officers. No one has been charged with plotting murder.

Authorities said Project 7 had amassed a huge arsenal — machine guns, 30,000 rounds of ammunition, explosives, night-vision equipment and body armor.

The men, all of the Kalispell area, were indicted Thursday on charges of conspiracy to possess illegal firearms. Morey also is charged with eight counts of possessing machine guns, some with the serial numbers removed. Day faces one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possession of a machine gun.

Also indicted in the alleged firearms conspiracy were David Burgert, 50, Tracy Brockway, 34, and Larry Chezem, 53. Burgert is serving a seven-year federal sentence for firearms convictions. Brockway and Chezem, a one-time candidate for Flathead County sheriff, had not been arrested.

[ClintonBeGone]

Daaaaaaaayo. DaaaaaaaAAAAAyo. Daylight comes and I wanna go home.

[Cicero]

Yes, we know, right-wing militias and skinheads represent a present danger to the Republic. Never mind all those Islamic terrorists.

[paleocon patriarch]

This has all the earmarks of a desparation publicity stunt to get the term "Assault Weapon" into the news before the Million Mom March ....which will have less than 10,000 participants.

[MEG33]

Are you saying that men who had plans to kill county officials should not be charged? They had the means to do it. They got Al Capone on tax evasion.

[MEG33]

Are you saying we should forget the domestic law breakers and just concentrate on foreign terrorists? I have no idea what these guys were up to but don't let gun rights cloud the fact that these men are not gun collectors.

[oldfart]

I know lots of guys who don't qualify as "gun collectors" but still have plenty of firepower. I also know of at least one lady who has a "machine gun" as defined by the ATFE. It's an SKS that occasionally has the firing pin stick, allowing it to fire more than one round with one pull of the trigger. She hates it, but we haven't been able to cure the problem yet, so she puts up with it.

As for plotting to kill the government figures... I seem to remember that David Koresh was accused-- by this self-same government-- of being a child molestor. Randy Weaver was a "white supremicist" too, at least until his trial.

About the only thing we can believe from this "News Release" is that the men have been indicted and some are in custody. Those are facts. Everything else is government spin. Until all the facts are known, and we will probably never know them, we should accept stories like this with somewhat more than 'a grain of salt'.

[MEG33]

David Koresh took his own Lt's wife for his own and thought young girls were to be groomed for his wife.He had more than one. He was nuts and crazy like a fox. I was living in Waco at the time. I watched the whole thing unwind and was watching live when the fire started.

Hate the decisions and the people who implemented them,blame the ATF for going in,especially when warned they were expected. Blast the Govt.,but Koresh would not let those children leave and don't tell me he was a harmless eccentric.