DETROIT — An undercover federal agent infiltrated a Christian militia group that authorities say plotted to incite violent revolt, and the agent built explosives under the direction of the group's suspected ringleader, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Arguing for the detention of accused Hutaree leader David Brian Stone, 44, and six other members, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet said the agent accompanied Stone and others in a van as they tried to attend a Feb. 6 meeting of militias in Kentucky.

Rough winter weather forced the group to cut short their trip, so Stone used time in the van to hone his speech on the "New World Order" he feared, Waterstreet said.

"We are the American military. We outnumber them," a speaker identified as Stone says on an audiotape recorded by the FBI agent.

"Now it's time to strike and take our nation back so we will be free of tyranny," Stone, 44, of Clayton, Mich., says on the recording played in court. "The war will come whether we are ready or not."

Stone and the eight other suspected Hutaree members — self-proclaimed "Christian warriors" who trained themselves in paramilitary techniques in preparation for a battle against the Antichrist — are charged with seditious conspiracy, or plotting to levy war against the U.S. They were arrested in a series of weekend raids across the Midwest.

Prosecutors say the group planned to make a false 911 call, kill responding police officers, then set off a bomb at the officers' funeral to kill many more. An indictment said that after the attacks, the group planned to retreat to "rally points" protected by trip-wired explosives for a violent standoff with law enforcement personnel.

Waterstreet said that as the van carrying the militia members returned to rural Lenawee County in February, it passed a Hudson, Mich., police car, and Stone said, "We're going to pop him — guaranteed."

Several defense attorneys objected to Waterstreet's testimony, arguing that there was no opportunity to cross-examine the undercover agent.

"All they're saying is my client has an opinion and knows how to use his mouth," Stone's lawyer William Swor said. He said Stone's speech was about defending against foreigners and not making war against the U.S. government.

Federal officials said they began monitoring the militia last summer and think it planned an attack this month. Waterstreet said Hutaree planned training in April in which they would kill people who "came upon them."

Eight suspects were arraigned Wednesday in Detroit. U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Donald Scheer entered not guilty pleas on behalf of seven who stood mute to the charges, including Stone. Stone's eldest son, 21-year-old Joshua Matthew Stone, pleaded not guilty.

www.statesman.com/news/nation/prosecutor-undercover-fbi-agent-infiltrated-militia-496984.html

April 1, 2010