Posted on 02/27/2002 10:13:52 AM PST by areafiftyone
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:01 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
KALISPELL, Mont. -- Investigators say they have uncovered a plot by a militia group to kill law enforcement officers, judges and officials in this northwestern Montana community.
A group calling itself "Project Seven" collected "intelligence files" on the officials and their families, Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont said Wednesday.
"We believe that there was a plan to assassinate some police officers and officials in the county, including judges," he said.
Dupont said charges were expected, though it was unclear how many people may belong to "Project Seven."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/NewsEngine/SelectStory.tpl?command=search&db=news.db&eqskudata=50-815734-35
Secret group may have targeted police
By Chery Sabol
The Daily Inter Lake
A bond hearing in Kalispell on Tuesday revealed a group called "Project Seven" that allegedly planned to kill police officers and local officials.
The hearing was for Tracy Brockway, charged with obstructing justice for allegedly harboring fugitive David Burgert.
Brockway was arrested after fleeing from officers on Feb. 7 with Burgert. She was caught when her truck went off the road west of Kalispell; Burgert, 38, was arrested the next day after an overnight chase through the woods by the SWAT team and other officers. He was charged with bail jumping.
Brockway, 32, has been in jail for 17 days on $500,000 bond. Her lawyer, Gary Doran of Kalispell, asked Justice of the Peace David Ortley to reduce her bond.
Calling Brockway a "sensitive, sweet young lady," Doran said it's unfair and unconstitutional to hold her on such a high bond.
"They want her to rot in jail until she will tell them anything they want her to say" about Burgert and his associates, Doran said.
County Attorney Tom Esch called detective Bruce Parish to testify about Brockway.
Brockway had worked for the Whitefish Police Department as a cleaning woman. She obtained information there about officers, including where they lived, and passed it along to other members of the group, Esch said.
Parish said a search of a trailer at Brockway's home produced "thousands of rounds of ammunition," firearms, and booby traps.
He said Project Seven, in which Brockway said she was a member with Burgert, started as a defense of the Constitution and for self-protection. But once Burgert took control of the group, Parish said, the focus changed to "an anti-law enforcement and anti-government point of view," with talk of killing officers, judges and other officials.
The organization was exposed after Burgert's family reported him missing Jan. 9. He is awaiting trial on a charge of assaulting an officer and also faces charges of obstructing an officer and resisting arrest. After he disappeared, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.
Burgert was found after he allegedly had a confrontation with another member of Project Seven. After the argument, the other man left Brockway's home on Smith Lake Road. The man said he was going to call police and Burgert said "if he did call the police, that would be a direct threat on his life and (Burgert) would kill him," Parish testified.
Sheriff's deputies found the man, who became an informant and revealed where Burgert and Brockway might be found, what weapons they had, and the plans of violence promulgated by Project Seven.
Parish said a "wanted poster" was circulated later by a member of the group, showing the informant's picture, name, social security number, aliases and information that he provided police "about the Montana State Militia."
Doran argued that little of that has direct impact on Brockway or her bond.
"This woman has never been involved in any crime of violence," he said. She poses no threat to the community and could be released from jail on conditions that could include restricted contact with other people.
Esch, though, said Brockway not only harbored Burgert, but drove him around in her pickup truck while he carried a fully automatic machine gun. Brockway has no family in the community and is not employed, Esch said, making her "not a good risk."
Ortley agreed."If there was a candidate to disappear or flee, it's you," he told Brockway.
"I can't fathom a situation where I would release you on your own recognizance," he said. He said her "poor judgment" took her close to "an extremely dangerous situation," and the judge said he feared for Brockway's own safety.
He reduced her bond to $100,000, plus an appearance in his court.
Ortley initially delayed the hearing Tuesday after Doran objected to Brockway having to appear in jail clothing. A detention officer had refused to let Brockway change into street clothing until Ortley agreed to Doran's request.
"If she looks like a jailbird to the community, that perception" could taint her chance at a fair trial later, Doran said.
Brockway was soft-spoken and downcast through much of the hearing. She is unemployed, she said, and her estranged husband is in Israel until May.
"It hasn't been very easy" being in jail, she told Doran. "I lay awake at night, not being able to sleep.
"She cited the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination when she was asked if she had taken an oath as a member of Project Seven, a group she described as devoted to standing together "to survive if any type of disaster... comes along."
Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com 02/27/2002 Wednesday
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"You know, you young men, what finally happened to the middle-class? The press, already enslaved and degraded to the position of mouthpiece for the murderers, demanded that the remnants of the proud and stubborn middle-class be 'punished' as traitors for daring to raise up their voices against the endless wars, the punitive taxation, the constant violating of the Constitution
This bears some similarity to the McMoil "suicide". The foundation for police attention is "assaulting an officer". In this case, the family suggests that the man is missing, even though his court date has not apparently arrived. The judge apparently decides that the "missing" man will not show for trial and issues a warrant. Soon thereafter the man is not missing anymore. His whereabouts have been revealed by an "informant", who may very well have known the whereabouts of the man all along.
Then why does Patsy need his Brigadiers?
Status: Facts not in.
All very confusing though.
"...but what's confusin' you is just the nature of my game!"
Mick Jagger, Sympathy for the Devil
And THAT scares the hell out of the 'authorities'...
Brings 'walk softly but carry a big stick' down to the personal level...where it would be most effective.
15 AR15's was for more then himself.. can you say militia ?
As well it should. People like this are homegrown terrorists, nothing less.
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