Archangel M
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http://www.policeone.com/investigat...eign-Citizens-plot-to-kidnap-kill-Alaska-cops
FAIRBANKS, Alaska Five people, including militia activist Schaeffer Cox, were arrested Thursday in the Fairbanks area for allegedly conspiring to kill multiple Alaska State Troopers and a federal judge.
The group had stockpiled weapons and conducted surveillance on the homes of two troopers, according to Alaska State Troopers. Some of the weapons known to be in the cache are prohibited by state or federal law, according to troopers.
In addition to Cox, those taken into custody are Lonnie and Karen Vernon of Salcha, Coleman Barney of North Pole and Michael Anderson, whose hometown was unclear. All were taken into custody without incident.
The arrests were made by the Alaska State Troopers Special Emergency Reaction Team, along with Fairbanks troopers, the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and the Fairbanks Police Department.
U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline was the judge targeted, U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler said. Lonnie Vernon was recently indicted on the charge of threatening to kill Beistline, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court in Alaska, in the fulfillment of his duties and is the only member of the group facing federal charges, Loeffler said.
Beistline is presiding over a tax-evasion case involving the Vernons.
In a lengthy courtroom speech last year, Cox said he does not intend to cooperate with the court system, but he sees himself as a peacemaker between his supporters and the government.
The FBI describes the Sovereign Citizen Movement as a domestic terrorism group.
Members of the movement do not believe U.S. laws apply to them and sometimes make their own license plates or create their own legal trials, according to the FBI. A group of Fairbanks residents recently conducted their own trial of Cox at Dennys Restaurant.
Cox has previously appeared as a public figure as gun rights activist and a legislative candidate. He unsuccessfully challenged Republican Rep. Mike Kelly in 2008.
He is a leader of the Alaska Peacemakers Militia and the Second Amendment Task Force. He has helped organize multiple gun-rights and personal freedoms rallies, including the 2009 Freedom Fest at the Carlson Center. Cox is a member of a Liberty Bell network, which sends out mass notifications to assemble a crowd of witnesses when a member believes his or her rights are being violated.