One member of the Hutaree has pled guilty to the use of a firearm in relation to a violent crime. The crime in this case is apparently plotting and practicing to attack the government.
The plea agreement states that Joshua Clough was trained for an operation planned for last April. The goal of the operation was to kill a law enforcement officer, and then attack local and federal officers who arrived for the funeral of the victim and, as I remember retreat to a type of shelter on a cliff from which the members would hold off the US Army and bring down the nation's government.
(The lesson to be learned here, folks is not to follow crazy people down the rabbit hole. Please learn that if you learn nothing else.)
But right wing outcry last year forced the government to release the militia members since all they were doing was talking according to pro gun activist and other conservatives. But Mr. Clough's plea agreement says that isn't true.
So all the whining about the Hutaree militia just participating in protected free speech appears to have been rendered moot by Clough's admission.
And another Limbaugh outrage rant lies quivering in the dust.
See more at:
TPM Muckraker: Hutaree Militia Member Pleads Guilty To Weapons Charge
I first encountered a report on this in the Wall Street Journal which my daughter suscribes to and then doesn't read. Since the WSJ doesn't allow people enter from my links I did not link to it. If you search Google News for "Defendent Pleads Guilty as Militia Trial Nears", Google may be able to get you into their report (in which they hide the fact that Clough's militia was the Hutaree for a few paragraphs. There is supposed to be an agreement that WSJ and other pay to read sites and those news sources who hide their older reports have to allow 5 reads a day from anyone, paying or not, though I believe that NYT does chalk each of those up to your 20 per month and then presents a whiny note when you've exceeded your limit though they still allow you to see the article linked from Google.
