Posted on 10/17/2003 10:29:17 AM PDT by FourPeas
Militia member 'filled with rage,' plotted ambush Friday, October 17, 2003 By Ed White
It was a rural arsenal fit for war. After the peaceful arrest of a Cadillac-area man, authorities who searched his 40-acre compound discovered a stunning collection of firepower, including an anti-aircraft gun capable of firing 550 rounds per minute up to four miles away. A van and a Jeep Cherokee, described by the suspect as his "war wagons," had machine guns inside, with one "locked, loaded and ready to go," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lloyd Meyer said. Agents found an underground bunker, thousands of rounds of ammunition, hundreds of pounds of gunpowder and manuals on guerrilla warfare, "booby traps" and explosives. There were chilling pictures of President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the cross-hairs of a high- see MILITIA, A4 powered rifle scope drawn over them, Meyer said. Norman Somerville, 43, was arrested last week on federal gun and drug charges as he shopped at Home Depot in Cadillac. Authorities then spent the weekend combing his property in Wexford County's Antioch Township, about 20 miles northwest of Cadillac. Details of the search were disclosed in a court document filed Thursday in federal court in Grand Rapids, four days before a judge will decide whether Somerville should remain in jail while his case is pending. Somerville was "filled with rage and intended to ambush people, mowing them down in a hail of machine-gun bullets," Meyer said, quoting informants. He belongs to a "self-styled radical militia unit" whose members are upset over the death of Scott Woodring, the prosecutor said. Woodring was the Newaygo County man fatally shot by state police during the summer, days after a trooper died while trying to serve him with an arrest warrant. State police were told in September that Somerville wanted to cause a car accident, then "ambush and kill" any responding officers with a machine gun mounted in his Jeep, Meyer wrote in the court document. An unidentified source, described as one of Somerville's "trusted associates," feared he had become "mentally unbalanced and would kill an innocent person or be killed," Meyer said. Somerville may face additional charges linked to the search of his property, although Meyer declined to elaborate. Two years ago, Somerville moved to Wexford County from elsewhere in northern Michigan. He served in the Army from 1978 to 1984 and was trained as an intelligence analyst assigned to the elite Special Forces. During a brief court appearance last week in Grand Rapids, Somerville said: "The people will have their day. ... There's a quiet civil war going on in the country." In Antioch Township, five miles outside Mesick, neighbors said he is not the type to share a cup of sugar. "We told our kids to stay off his property. There was gunfire a lot," said Lynda Sherburne, a former township clerk who lives nearby. "Who knows where the stray bullets are going. "He got angry very easily. No contact with him was the best contact." Sherburne said her nephew's house shook as state and federal authorities detonated explosives found on Somerville's property. "I don't think anyone realized he was stockpiling back there," she said.
The Grand Rapids Press
Self-Styled Militiaman Had Machine Guns, Wanted to Kill Police, Government Says Traverse City, Mich – A self-styled militiaman charged with weapons violations was "filled with rage" and plotted to kill police in retaliation for the fatal shooting of another man with anti-government views, according to a court document obtained by The Associated Press.
Norman David Somerville, arrested last week after leaving his heavily fortified compound in Wexford County, had stockpiled arms including an anti-aircraft weapon and .30-caliber machine guns, the document said.
A source told investigators Somerville was attempting to mount a machine gun onto a Jeep and that he wanted to cause an auto accident, then ambush and kill police when they responded, said the papers filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.
"According to his close associates, Mr. Somerville is filled with rage and intended to ambush people, mowing them down in a hail of machine gun bullets," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lloyd K. Meyer said in a motion and brief urging that Somerville remain jailed without bond until trial.
His attorney, Joe Doele of Grand Rapids, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Somerville, 43, was arrested Oct. 10 after a grand jury handed down a three-count indictment charging him with illegal possession of a machine gun, being a marijuana user in unlawful possession of firearms and manufacturing marijuana.
The two weapons charges are felonies that carry a maximum of 10 years in prison while the marijuana charge, also a felony, carries a maximum of five years in prison.
A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday in Grand Rapids.
In the documents, Meyer said Somerville was growing marijuana and had stocks of automatic assault weapons, explosive powder, bomb-making materials, and tens of thousands of ammunition rounds on his 40-acre property near Mesick, about 30 miles south of Traverse City.
Somerville lived there with his girlfriend, who has not been charged. Meyer said the grand jury investigation was continuing and that "we are going to present more charges and more defendants for their consideration."
Last July, a "confidential source" told state police that "Somerville, his girlfriend and a few others are members of a self-styled radical militia unit who were very upset about the death of Mr. Scott Woodring," Meyer said.
Woodring, 40, a one-time militia member, killed a state trooper July 7 during a standoff at his home in Newaygo County, where officers were trying to serve a warrant charging him with criminal sexual conduct.
He apparently slipped away from his home and was shot dead by police six days later.
The source, described in the court documents as one of Somerville's "trusted associates" with knowledge of his property, told police Somerville wanted to kill a trooper "to avenge Mr. Woodring," Meyer said.
State police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were prepared to wait "weeks or months" to confront Somerville rather than bring on a standoff at his compound, Meyer said. He was arrested unarmed at a Home Depot store.
Over the next two days, agents conducted a court-ordered search of the property and found it as the source described, the document said.
"Hidden in a tree line, Mr. Somerville had mounted a maneuverable anti-aircraft gun in a position to command logical fields of fire and approaches to the property and any airline flight paths in the open sky," the court papers said.
"This M2 .50-caliber machine gun was over five feet long and weighed more than 150 pounds with tripod. It can fire 550 rounds per minute with a maximum range of over four miles. Mr. Somerville had tens of thousands of belted ammunition rounds for the gun."
Somerville also had several M1919 .30-caliber machine guns, one of which was "locked, loaded and ready to go" behind the side door of a mobile panel van," the document said.
It said a turret on which a machine gun could be mounted was installed in a Jeep Cherokee with the passenger seat removed. Such guns can fire 400 to 550 rounds per minute with an effective range of a half-mile, and Somerville had thousands of rounds of ammunition for them, the document said.
"The keys to what Mr. Somerville himself described as his `war wagons' were in the ignition, ready to go," it said.
Aside from "considerable stores" of food, gunpowder and marijuana, agents found numerous publications and papers including military field and technical manuals, the document said. They dealt with subjects such as booby traps, guerrilla warfare and incendiaries.
Also found were videos with titles such as "America: Wakeup or Waco" and "9/11, the Road to Tyranny."
The document said agents who inspected Somerville's property following his arrest found photographs of President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the crosshairs of a high-powered rifle scope drawn over their heads.
Somerville was being investigated by Secret Service agents "who had information that Mr. Somerville had stated over a ham radio that he was going to dispatch assassination teams to target President Bush," it said.
The ATF has obtained records showing that Somerville served in the U.S. Army from 1978-84 and was trained as an intelligence analyst, Meyer said. For part of that time, he was assigned to Special Forces groups at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Meade, Md.
(John Flesher [The Associated Press] in Michigan Live, October 16, 2003)
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If you had the same priorities he had you most assuredly could. Buy some now more later. The most expensive piece is probably the grossly misnamed "anti-aircraft gun" (which from the description sounds like a .50 BMG - 550 is the cyclic rate for a .50 BMG) Probably set you back about $14,000 today same as a cheap econobox. The Steyr AMR retails for $14,500, but unfortunately is not for sale in this country. If it ever were, I'd buy one in a minute.
It comes down to quite a number of factors: what you choose to spend money on, what your general cost of living is where you live (including mortgage and such), and how long it's taken you to purchase the arsenal.
I've had rather low-paying jobs, and I've been out of work for a couple of months (not taking a dime of unemployment or any other public assistance, or private assistance from family or friends or anyone else), and yet I think you'd be surprised at what I could afford if I really wanted it.
I said so earlier - damn I'm good at calling these things.
This M2 .50-caliber machine gun was over five feet long
I called this one too. See post 28. I'm on a roll.
tens of thousands of belted ammunition rounds for the gun
Now I'm impressed! That much .50 ammo takes up a lot of space at 100 ammo cans per 10,000
The document said agents who inspected Somerville's property following his arrest found photographs of President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the crosshairs of a high-powered rifle scope drawn over their heads.
Probably planted by the agents.
from occupied ga said: "Probably planted by the agents."
Maybe he was a left-wing militia member. ;)
Hmm maybe so. It just doesn't strike me as consistent with the rest of his stuff. Kind of like finding an ice cream sundae with a dozen cherries on top. It's too over the top, kind of like some feds were guilding the lilly.
It's not that much. You can get ball ammo for as little as $1.25/round. I paid as little as ...(but of course I can't tell you that:-)
Sorry, that keyboard is worn out - it checks out sometimes. I really need to hit preview.
Root cellar?
most of the cannon used in the American revolution were privately owned. Can you source that?
I'll also vouch for that statement. Many of the militia groups raised during the American revolution were headed by wealthy patriots who purchased the heavy arms themselves. I don't have the source readily available either but I know there is quite a bit of documentation about this.
Talk about drawing attention to yourself.
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