By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
The FBI arrested eight members of a radical “Christian” militia group based in Michigan yesterday on charges that they were conspiring to kill police officers.
Fox News is reporing that the group, known as Hutaree, is a cult-like organization that is preparing to do battle with the Antichrist.
“Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment,” the group’s website explains. ” . . . We, the Hutaree, are prepared to defend all those who belong to Christ and save those who aren’t. We will still spread the word, and fight to keep it, up to the time of the great coming.”
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said nine members of the militia, including its leader, David Brian Stone, known as “Captain Hutaree” have been charged with conspiring to “levy war against the United States, (and) to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States.”
McQuade said the FBI moved when it did because of the group’s plans to launch an attack against law enforcement in April.
Eight members were arrested, with a ninth still being sought. Seven of the eight captured suspects are due in court later today.
Andrew Arena, head of the FBI’s field office in Detroit, told Fox the case is an example of “radical and extremist fringe groups” found throughout society.
The Hutaree (means “Christian soldier) believe their mandate comes from Scripture and that all Christians should “stand firm in Christ and believe in him until our uttermost end. The testimony must by no means pass away and we must spread the word believing in Christ’s words, even during the end times.”
The group also has a YouTube video that has been viewed more than 21,000 times.
Fox reports that the Hutaree were included on a list of 512 so-called active “patriot” groups in the U.S. last year by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in its spring intelligence report on extremist organizations.
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