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Man hoped to breed unrest through bombing spree, prosecutors say

By JENNIFER KERR

Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A man hoped his bombing of several California targets would prompt a declaration of martial law, then civic unrest and, ultimately, a militia takeover of the federal government, court documents say.

The alleged plan by Kevin Ray Patterson, 42, was detailed to authorities by an informant who also said Patterson planned to blow up a huge propane storage facility, the papers say.

Patterson and Charles Dennis Kiles, 49, are scheduled to be arraigned today in federal court on four felony weapons counts. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jodi Rafkin said searches of the two alleged militia members' homes revealed guns, ammunition, bomb chemicals and methamphetamine ingredients.

They and others may be indicted later for what federal agents say was a plot to blow up storage tanks near Elk Grove that together hold about 24 million gallons of liquid propane.

The tanks are a few hundred yards from heavily traveled state Highway 99 and a half-mile from a subdivision.

A threat assessment report by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore Laboratory concluded that a successful attack on either tank "would likely result in a firestorm that could reach as far out as 14 kilometers from the site and could cause a fatality rate as high as 50 percent up to five miles away."

Patterson's militia activities included joining other members in surveillance of the Yellowstone County Jail in Billings, Mont., in summer 1998 in hopes of freeing the Montana Freeman, the federal affidavits say.

It could be several weeks before additional charges are filed against Patterson, Kiles and others, Rafkin said. She declined to identify other suspects.

"My father ain't no terrorist," Kiles' son, Jason, told KCRA-TV of Sacramento outside the courthouse. "I don't care what they say."

The affidavit filed by federal agents to support the search warrants said that an informant told them Patterson had been talking about blowing up the propane tanks, which he called the "twin sisters," since June 1998.

Patterson told the informant last February that he had found a supplier of ammonium nitrate fertilizer from whom he could acquire large quantities of the chemical he could use to make a bomb.

The informant, Patterson and Kiles are all members of the San Joaquin County Militia, the document said.

AP-CS-12-07-99 0457EST

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 07, 1999

Answers

"A man hoped his bombing of several California targets would prompt a declaration of martial law, then civic unrest and, ultimately, a militia takeover of the federal government, court documents say."

Sheesh! What absolute twisted idiots!!

They could care less about hurting innocent people. Violence is NOT the way to transform what doesn't work well.

Harumph!

Diane

See also...

Bomb Plot Has Police Fearful [Y2K] (San Francisco Examiner)

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id= 001wJZ

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), December 07, 1999.

Speaking of propane, did they ever find that propane truck stolen in Seattle just before the WTO meetings?

-- (jumpinjack@flash.gas), December 07, 1999.

All the innocent lives at risk; terrorists suck.

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 07, 1999.

About this time last year, didn't we hear about some groups calling for "monkey wrenching" during Y2K? Guess this guy bought their shpiel. I thought it was a buncha Earth Firsters and not any of the militia-mindset bunch.

As if we don't have enough problems ahead of us. Now we got folks who want to make a bad situation worse.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), December 07, 1999.