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Resistance See other Resistance Articles Title: Undercover agent helped in probe of Hutaree Posted: 11:33 a.m. March 31, 2010 | Updated: 6:23 p.m. March 31, 2010 Undercover agent helped in probe of Hutaree By DAVID ASHENFELTER and BEN SCHMITT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS Comments (276) Recommend (4) Print E-mail Letter to the editor Share Facebook Twitter FarkIt Digg Del.icio.us Reddit Newsvine Buzz up! | An undercover law enforcement officer infiltrated a Christian militia group to gather evidence that led to FBI raids of the Michigan-based Hutaree group over the weekend. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet told U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Scheer this afternoon that the leader of the group, David B. Stone, 45, of Clayton wanted the undercover agent to prepare bombs to fight law enforcement officers, who the group regarded as enemies of the country. During the ongoing detention hearing, which began around 1:15 p.m., for eight alleged members of the group, Waterstreet played an audiotape of Stone saying, “Now is the time to strike and take our nation back. … This war will come whether we are ready or not. We will fight alongside anyone that calls the new world order their enemy.” Stone’s speech was clandestinely recorded on Feb. 6 in a vehicle as members of the group were headed to Kentucky for a meeting with other militia groups, the prosecutor said, adding that Stone’s remarks were part of a speech he planned to deliver at a gathering in Kentucky. According to prosecutors, on the way back from Kentucky, Stone pointed out a Hudson, Mich., police officer who had pulled someone over and said: “We’re going to pop him, guaranteed.” Someone else in the van mentioned the Hudson police department was a small force, prompting a reply from Stone: “We’ll pop every one of them.” The new information about the group came out during the detention hearing at the federal courthouse in Detroit in which Scheer is to decide whether the eight are to remain jailed pending trial. A ninth member of the group appeared Tuesday in federal court in Indiana and was to be transferred to Michigan. Several members of the group are charged with seditious conspiracy, attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, and knowingly transferring arms used in violent crimes. Newly court-appointed defense lawyers repeatedly objected to Waterstreet’s allegations made during the hearing. The defense lawyers said the government should be forced to put an agent on the witness stand, and subject to cross-examination, so the magistrate could more thoroughly weigh the credibility of the claims. Scheer repeatedly overruled such objections. Stone’s lawyer, William Swor, of Detroit sought to mitigate the government’s claims, arguing, “All they’re saying is my client has opinions and knows how to use his mouth.” Swor argued that Waterstreet had presented no evidence of a crime or justification for the magistrate to conclude that the defendants represented a danger to the community or a risk of flight if they were released. It is not yet clear who the agent was who infiltrated the group or how he apparently gained the group’s confidence. During the weekend raids at Stone’s home, agents seized more than 300 pieces of evidence, including explosives, bomb components and shrapnel, Waterstone said. Waterstreet said one defendant Kristopher Sickles, 27, of Sandusky, Ohio told the group in January that he shot his pet cat to determine “If I could kill something I had a feeling for.” A theme that developed throughout today’s hearing from defense lawyers was that Hutaree members were big talkers, who were short on action. “That’s all you have, is a lot of talk – guys who like to dress up in fatigues,” said Michael Rataj, who represents Tina Stone, the wife of David Stone. “Absolutely nothing illegal about any of it.” David Stone's lawyer, Swor, said in court: “He talked, he trained. So what?” He added, “What we heard is that Mr. Stone talked a lot and that Mr. Stone is angry.” The detention hearings will resume at 1 p.m. Thursday. After the hearing today, David Stone Sr.’s ex-wife, Donna Stone, angrily left the courthouse with Shannon Witt, who recently married Joshua Stone, and Brittany Bryant, the fiancée to David Stone Jr. “I don’t have a comment; neither does anyone else,” Donna Stone said between profanities. “Leave us alone.”
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