quote:The men named in the charging documents, Frederick Thomas, 73, of Cleveland, Ga., and Toccoa, Ga., residents Dan Roberts, 67, Ray H. Adams, 65, and Samuel J. Crump, 68, were all members of a fringe militia organization, according to investigators.
They called themselves "the covert group," and met several times throughout the year to discuss killing federal employees with rifles, explosives and ricin, a dangerous toxin that can be extracted from castor bean seeds using acetone and lye.
According to the FBI, the men had gone pretty far down the path of planning a serious attack. There are no statements from the accused or their lawyers, but two of the mens' wives are quoted as denying that the accusations are true.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I... um... four senior citizens in Georgia were arrested for suspicion of terrorism... I don't know what is more unbelievable, the accusations or the possibility that its true.
And the beans? what did they do, watch that episode of Breaking Bad one too many times?
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote: I don't know what is more unbelievable, the accusations or the possibility that its true.
A bunch of older crazy anti-gobbament types? Hardly improbable.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
What are we up to on the profiling count anyway? Brown people + ugly white women + crazy old people? We're going to run out of demographics to profile.
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: A bunch of older crazy anti-gobbament types? Hardly improbable.
Pretty improbable (after all, there are likely hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people who fit your terse description to some degree, not many of whom have engaged in terrorism in the past).
But certainly not unbelievable.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
There have been plenty of security reports about this exact sort of thing: right-wing militia fanatics who have been amped up by the current climate to the extent of being an easily detailed risk.
It's so not improbable that they aren't even the first.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
My grandfather can bellow out some visceral bits of stupidity but I never felt the need to consider that if it were not for his preoccupation with Wheel of Fortune, Super Mario Bros. 3 on Super Nintendo and groping the unfortunate woman at the beauty college who does his monthly perm that he could be a serious danger to the president.
The man needed help to put his old tv in the dumpster last time he moved, he can be racist and profane all he wants but he is far from being a danger. Well, maybe except to the girls at the beauty college, that is not a joke btw.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
It's funny, because if memory serves the timing of that article coincides with a sentiment that floated around conservative blogs; namely, that DHS was supposedly considering right-wing fringe groups a higher national security threat than Islamic extremist terrorists. There was a lot of outrage at the idea, which seemed absurd on its face... while MSNBC sees it as evidence of fact.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
In response to Samp's link, the third response at the bottom, and the 'thumbs up' while few certainly does creep me out.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Super Mario Bros. 3 is *not* on the Super Nintendo!
Unless you are talking about "Lost Worlds".
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
Samp-
I'm not saying militia groups aren't an increasing threat. I'm saying that, based on past evidence, the likelihood that any "older crazy anti-gobbament type" is seriously planning a terrorist campaign is what I would consider "improbable". Perhaps you meant that, given the number of them, even if any single one is unlikely to be planning a terrorist attack, on the whole it's not improbable that at least one of them is. If so, then I guess I'd agree, with qualification that I'm not aware of many such accusations in the past.
Bloviating anti-government kooks aren't uncommon; those (allegedly) actively trying to kill federal employees based on their anti-government ideology seem to be.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
There is that "All Stars" cartridge for the SNES.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by SenojRetep: Perhaps you meant that, given the number of them, even if any single one is unlikely to be planning a terrorist attack, on the whole it's not improbable that at least one of them is. If so, then I guess I'd agree, with qualification that I'm not aware of many such accusations in the past.
Yeah, that's pretty much it. It's that with the general rise in this type of general activity as well as the political climate, something like this happening was all but anticipated and spelled out for us.
Short the, uh, senior citizen angle, though!
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Sixties and seventies doesn't mean they aren't capable of dangerous attacks. Heck, Presidents are frequently in their mid-to-late sixties and seventies. Why are they okay to lead a country if they are not able to plan a deadly attack, especially as the role of a leader of a country certainly includes that level of thought and an ability to plan effectively.
Unless they were in their late 80s or 90s, I don't think we should really disregard them as insane-but-harmless because of their age. We don't know many of the facts and while they may have been truly harmless kooks, it isn't simply because of their age.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Teshi: Sixties and seventies doesn't mean they aren't capable of dangerous attacks. Heck, Presidents are frequently in their mid-to-late sixties and seventies. Why are they okay to lead a country if they are not able to plan a deadly attack, especially as the role of a leader of a country certainly includes that level of thought and an ability to plan effectively.
Unless they were in their late 80s or 90s, I don't think we should really disregard them as insane-but-harmless because of their age. We don't know many of the facts and while they may have been truly harmless kooks, it isn't simply because of their age.
Well said.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: Super Mario Bros. 3 is *not* on the Super Nintendo!
Unless you are talking about "Lost Worlds".
It appeared in super Mario Allstars, FYI.
Edit: dammit, mucus beat me to it.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
Bah! The proper way to play Super Mario Bros. 3 is, and always will be, on an original Nintendo. Probably after blowing on the cartridge.
</humbug>
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: There is that "All Stars" cartridge for the SNES.
Yeah, that's what I meant by "Lost Worlds" which should have been "The Lost Levels". I don't think a lot of people still have that cartridge.
Posted by Geraine (Member # 9913) on :
My grandfather, who voted democrat until Clinton, worries me. We wouldn't let him come to my house to meet President Obama because we were afraid what he might say. He would never get violent and his health wouldn't allow him to if he wanted to be, but still. There is a certain level of respect that you show the president, even if you don't like him. My grandfather would end up saying something very rude to the President.
Would he ever do anything violent? Nope. He may not like the President and is slowly becoming senile, but he doesn't have it in him. He's a farm boy turned concert pianist turned school teacher and has never hit anyone in his life. Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
*shrug* I tend to think everyone is capable of doing something violent, in the correct set of circumstances (this isn't direct towards either you or your Grandpa, Geraine, it's just something I've thought for a long time). I can imagine plenty such possible circumstances for a group of senior citizens, and see no reason to think it's impossible for them on account of their age. Possible violence probably wouldn't include rollerblade-by gang shootings, but I'm sure parapalegics have shot people before from their wheelchairs. Seems a bit strange to me to think, "Naww, they're too old for that."
Posted by Geraine (Member # 9913) on :
I'm sure if my grandfather put his mind to it he could be violent, but the effort he would have to exert would deter him. I agree that age shouldn't really play a factor in determining who could be a threat. We see children with guns in some countries, so seniors with violent intentions seems perfectly probable.
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
Heck, we see children with guns in *this* country.
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