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
The reason for such great concern regarding weapons grade material is that the technology required to make a bomb from such material is the smaller part of the problem.
The bomb dropped over Hiroshima was a U-235 bomb which consisted of a mechanism similar to a larger caliber field piece. The projectile of the field piece is a sub-critical mass of U-235. This projectile is shot at a target of U-235. The speed of the projectile is required in order to prevent premature fission which would destroy the bomb prior to reaching full yield.
In Iraq, one of the items found buried in a scientist's yard was a centrifuge. This is one of the means of creating weapons grade material from the type of material which would be used in a nuclear reactor.
Those who want to believe that Saddam was not attempting to arm himself with WMDs do not have sufficient appreciation for just how vital to terrorists is the ability to refine or obtain weapons grade material.
Thanks. Very interesting article.
Someone more knowledgeable than I can perhaps tell us what level of enrichment is necessary to make a Hiroshima "Little Boy" type bomb function.
The linked article suggests that Uranium is naturally about 1% U-235 and that enrichment to 3% yields reactor grade fuel. The article suggests that the amount of fuel in "Little Boy" may still be classified. I can believe that. One of the uncertainties is the value of critical mass. Since Little Boy seems to have been the combining of two masses, each must have been less than critical mass and the sum was more than critical mass.
Can someone tell me, is the critical mass of some level of enriched uranium a known quantity or are such values all classified?
Also, the article discusses the fact that crushing a small sphere of polonium/beryllium releases a spray of neutrons. Can someone explain that effect to me.
Gee, Chancellor Libertine, that sounds like the plot to "Minority Report". What is it with you and lame-a** movies?
So, since I have a number of rifles, shotguns and pistols, I guess "its only a matter of time" 'til I go off the deep end and start shooting in rush hour traffic, eh? </ sarcasm>
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
A hint: the following document refers to KilogramS, plural. But note that as with the *Virus House* design, there are ways of doing it other than with direct enrichment or Oah Ridge centrifugal seperators.
I don't think I'd care to get into a more detailed discussion of build-your-own-A-bomb methodology than that. But you may find the following on *How to Build Your Own Breeder Reactor* to also be enlightening.
Crosshairs and pot aside, I don't consider gun laws to be valid, so someone with a cache of weapons like this guy had is not automatically disqualified from being a "law abiding citizen" IMO.
Uh-oh ...
Let me rephrase that. I feel the 98% of gun laws are unconstitutional and therefore invalid. Do you agree?
No I don't agree. I want even more gun control.
Excuse me? You apparently took an oath to defend the Constitution, including the "shall not be infringed" part when you enlisted. What gives?
Candidate for your profile page?
Gun control is constitutional.
What I would like to see is probably unconstitutional absent a declaration of martial law and that would be the large scale confiscation of weapons from criminals. So we have an upside down society where the law abiding citizens obey the gun laws and the criminals break them ...
George W. Bush
| People who don't believe in gun control | People who want more gun control |
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You are known by the company you keep, and frankly I'd rather be in my list than in yours
How is this. Explain to me how something like the Assault Weapons Ban is constitutional when the 2nd plainly states that the RKBA shall NOT be infringed. The founders used simplistic language for a very good reason.
Okay, where are your family atomics ? Since you don't believe in any restrictions, where are your chemical, biological, and nuclear WMDs ? Where are your tactical and strategic air and naval wessels ?
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