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Don't make the mistake of elevating these dumb-a$$e$ into some sort of martyrs, though. They are criminals.

Well, perhaps some of them, but I'm not sure whether we know enough about the evidence to arrive that conclusion for all of them. There are at least three things from the article about this incident that give me pause:

All but Bobo are charged with conspiracy to make a firearm, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

That sounds like a fairly vague charge, especially since the ATF has in the past interpreted "making a firearm" very broadly, warping the meaning of a firearm beyond all recognition. Vague charges are almost always a matter of concern - the authorities just "know" that they're guilty of something, but can't quite put their finger on it, so they come up with a conspiracy charge to hold them in jail until - what - until they can manufacture some evidence of a real crime?

The second is: According to the criminal complaint, ATF and the Alabama State Fire Marshal's Office used a confidential informant to infiltrate the militia

How many times have we seen "confidential informants" being used as agent provocateurs? What things might the informant have done to push some of the suspects into committing acts that they may not have performed without that "help"? As in physics, the process of "measuring" an activity can actually affect the activity.

Finally, His red pickup truck, usually parked at the house, displays bumper stickers such as "Welcome to the South, Now Go Home," "The Second Amendment: `You do not know you need it until they come to take it away' - Thomas Jefferson" and "Work Harder, Millions on Welfare Depend on You."

How does the reporter know that? Was it in the criminal complaint? If so, why? There's nothing illegal about that.

So, pending further evidence that may come out at trial, I don't know enough to throw all of those guys under the bus. A quote such as "They stockpile things and live off a fear, a paranoia they're going to need weapons and explosives because some event is going to happen when they will need them" from a LEO is interesting, because in and of itself, that quote does not describe any criminal activity. Guess that we will find out whether all of those charged really violated the law(s), or whether only some of them did...