First of a two-part series
David Stone Sr. and his wife, Tina, members of the Christian militia Hutaree, lived in these trailers in Clayton, Mich. Last month, the Stones and seven other militia members were indicted on sedition and weapons charges. Prosecutors say there was a plot to spark an anti-government uprising by killing law enforcement officials.
The trailers sit side by side, as if they are leaning on each other for support. The sides of the structures are pockmarked. That's because they are riddled with bullet holes — not going from the outside in, but from the inside out — the result of accidental discharges from the cache of weapons the Stone family allegedly kept inside.
To hear the FBI tell it, more than just gunfire was coming from inside those trailers. Prosecutors say the trailers were ground zero for a sinister plan to spark a conflict with the government and perhaps inspire other militias to join in the battle.
Prosecutors say David Stone Sr., Tina, his son Joshua and a handful of others were members of a small, violent Christian militia they called the Hutaree. And they wanted to go out in a blaze of gunfire and glory.
"I think going back a couple of years ago, we kinda got wind of this group and there could be some issues with them," said Andrew Arena, the FBI's special agent in charge in Detroit. "Like any extremist group, I don't think in reality they believe that they're going to personally overthrow the U.S. government. The plan is to basically be the match or the spark to ignite the revolution."
Last month, David Stone Sr. and Tina were among nine people indicted on sedition and weapons charges in what prosecutors say was a plot to spark an anti-government uprising by killing police...
America's New Kinder, Gentler Militia
Second of a two-part series
Federal authorities arrested nine members of a Christian militia group in Michigan named the Hutaree last month for allegedly plotting the murder of a number of police officers. The group was small, almost a family affair. It was headed by a Clayton, Mich., man, David Stone Sr., and its members included his wife, two of his sons and a handful of other Midwestern men. The group had videos on YouTube showing members on patrol in the Michigan woods, tracking some unknown enemy. They were heavily armed, and wore camouflage uniforms and face paint.
Prosecutors say they were training for a mission: The Hutaree allegedly wanted to kill a local policeman and then, when other officers came to pay their respects at his funeral, take out a roster of them by bombing the procession. But law enforcement officials and experts say the Hutaree group is far from typical. Militias, for the most part, have changed and can no longer be automatically associated with standoffs with federal authorities like those that were seen in Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho...
