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
LOL!
If you own a gun, then your "farm" / "yard" / "land" is a compound to the media.
For example, I have a 1/4 acre "compound". On my compound is a two-story, four-bedroom "remote facility" in which members of my "clan" reside. I have an attached "facility" where I have "other miscellaneous equipment" to maintain two "vehicles". I have a small detached "facility" which houses "personnal vehicles" (two lawn mowers), "explosives" (gasoline), "poisons" (insecticides), and "other bomb making chemicals" (fertilizer).
So are you saying that in 1790 citizens needed a "Letter of Marque" to exercise their Second Amendment Rights?
Gee, isn't it nice to live in a fantasy world where prior restraint is a flawless and Constitutionally sound practice?
Here's to looking forward to you being next on the "he was ABOUT TO do it!" arrest list.
How long was the tow rope?
If I was the pilot towing the target, I'd want about a mile long length of tow rope to the target.
How about: Three Right turns making a Left turn?
2. The GR Press isn't exactly the best paper around. I wonder what the real facts are here.
AA gun? What was it really? A 300 Win Mag?
You're right about the MO as well. Most militia members I've known just want to be left alone.
We have it in Michigan (pistols) and have had it as long as I can remember.(1920's I think) It's a waste of tax money.
PS - didn't hit a GD thing.
Do you then agree a government has a valid interest in keeping some arms out of the hands of it's citizens ?
There used to be a manic/depressive who would joint the conversation from time to time.
He wouldn't be heard from a long time then when he got to the hyper phase he would key up and talk incessantly.
I once heard him talk for over 5 minutes straight without stopping.
He must have paused for breath but I couldn't detect it.
And how about book registration? Is that okay too?
Does one live "on" a compound, or "in" a compound?
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