An appeals court has ruled nine members of a Michigan militia must stay locked up while the government challenges an order that would release them until trial. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, said Monday that it was continuing a temporary stay of a Detroit federal judge’s decision to free members of the militia pending trial.
Wait, what? The uberscary militia that was ready to destroy the country with its daring plan to shoot some local cops so they could kill even more local cops, so they could lure their intended target, the feds, to their bunker/compound/clubhouse booby-trapped with homemade bombs? A federal judge wanted to let them go???
DetNews: Judge questions weight of evidence in Hutaree case
A federal judge expressed reservations today about the weight of the evidence against nine militia members accused of plotting to wage against the U.S. government.
[snip]
But she said that charge requires evidence of "imminent lawless action ... against the United States."
[snip]
Prosecutors say the defendants are a danger to the public and a flight risk. The court's pretrial services department has recommended detention based on risk to the public.
Defense lawyers say their clients have committed no crimes but only exercised their constitutional rights of free speech, free association and the right to bear arms.
Gee... The way this was reported made it sound like a slam dunk. Final proof that the Scary Violent Dangerous Right Wing™ was an imminent threat to the security of this nation and should be treated as domestic terrorists. But the feds can't scrape together enough evidence to hold them before trial?
This case had JDFR all over it when I first heard it. Starting with the idiocy of their supposed plan to strike a blow at the feds by killings lots and lots of local cops. If you want to attack the feds, you hop in your plane and fly it into a federal building, you don't congeal some complicated plan to lead you to your master stroke of being surrounded by tank-driving feds.
This, of course, assumes these plotters were intelligent enough to think out their plan. It could be that they were all just stupid, and had a stupid plan. But the thing about stupid people and their plans, is that deep down, they're aware that they're stupid, and that their plan won't work, so they usually don't wind up carrying it out unless they get in a situation where they have nothing to lose. Obviously, this was not the case, since they're fighting the charges. Obviously they hadn't even started their plan, since the prosecution can't even convince the judge they've done anything.
The other thing that bugs me is the homemade bomb making. Since there are no dangerous weapons, only dangerous men; it makes sense that a group who has expressed intent to kill people with homemade bombs has the planning, knowledge, and skill to carry out the attack. They're a danger whether they haven't been caught yet, or if they're currently released waiting for trial. You can rule that these people have their guns taken away, but you can't rule that their knowledge and skill be taken away.
The only thing that makes a knowledgeable homemade bomb maker safe is handcuffing them to their recliner at home. So what makes these accused bomb makers safe? Maybe all their kit was confiscated? But you can easily obtain the necessary elements to make explosives. Maybe the person who had all the skill in this arena was an informant, and is no longer available to them as a resource? But that would kind of defeat the purpose of calling the group dangerous when the only person who was really dangerous was working with the feds already. Or maybe... Just maybe... They only talked about making bombs, and had no real knowledge on the subject.
I don't know, but this case just don't feel right.
This judge's revealing decision has cast suspicion over the entire case. If the appeals court finds they must be held until trial, we may still murmur. But if they grant bond? Maybe the feds should just cut their losses and trust the MSM not to report it.
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