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Potential Extremist Reactions to Y2K Detailed in ADL Report

Story Filed: Monday, December 20, 1999 11:58 AM EST

NEW YORK, Dec. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- As the year comes to a close, concerns have intensified about possible Y2K extremist reactions. The arrest in Seattle of an alleged terrorist last week serves as a case in point. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) identifies similar threats to national security from extremists and militia groups in its report, "Y2K Paranoia: Extremists Confront the Millennium."

The report examines the varied reactions and expectations of elements on the fringes of society and warns of the potential for violence. Y2K Paranoia focuses on anti-government militia and "patriot" groups with theories of a government conspiracy, certain religious fundamentalists and cults predicting an apocalypse with Jews playing a conspiratorial or Satanic role, and far-right extremists seeking to blame the so-called Y2K bug on Jews and the federal government. Many of the groups are disseminating hate-filled propaganda on the Internet.

"Millennial cults, extremist groups and racial ideologues this year are bringing their assorted baggage to the Y2K happening," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director. "The heightened expectations of the year 2000, mixed together with the widely reported possibility of computer meltdown, have generated a barrage of predictions and hysterical propaganda from those on the farthest fringes of society. While not all of these groups call for explicit action, many of their followers are hoping, expecting or preparing for the worst. We can only hope that these people will not act rashly or violently on their fears and expectations."

Predicting The Apocalypse

-- The Prophecy Club -- Members are selling books that warn of a government plan to establish an evil dictatorship and imprison "true believers" in concentration camps.

-- Aum Shinrikyo -- The Japanese cult responsible for the 1995 Tokyo subway attack is predicting Armageddon. Authorities fear the violence-prone group could strike again.

-- Gershon Salomon -- As leader of the Movement for the Establishm ent of the Temple, Salomon reportedly has asserted that he and his followers must "liberate" the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, destroy the Dome of the Rock Mosque and build the Third Temple foretold by the prophets.

-- Concerned Christians -- Authorities believe that the group may resort to violence in the streets of Jerusalem to hasten the Second Coming of Christ. Concerned Christians achieved notoriety last January when its followers were arrested and deported from Israel.

-- Yisrayl "Bill" Hawkins -- Hawkins, the leader of the House of Yahweh, and his followers are awaiting the return of Jesus in a compound in Abilene, Texas. The group reportedly is stockpiling arms.

-- Robert Millar -- The leader of a Christian Identity settlement in Muldrow, Okla., Millar's white supremacist teachings include predictions of a series of disasters after 2000 that will remove the wicked from the earth. The settlement, dubbed Elohim City, reportedly is heavily armed.

Extreme Right Hatemongers

-- National Socialist White Revolutionary Party -- Believes that an impending Russian nuclear, chemical and biological assault on the United States will lead to the forming of a globalist government.

-- James Wickstrom -- An Identity minister in Michigan with links to Posse Comitatus, a loosely organized group of Identity survivalists, Wickstrom predicts Y2K will bring widespread chaos perpetrated by the "Jew and antichrist world system." He claims there's a Jewish conspiracy to downplay Y2K and insists the NATO strikes against Serbia were intended to divert attention from an impending world disaster.

-- Christian Defense League -- The virulently anti-Semitic Christian Defense League in Arabi, La. believes Y2K is actually a Jewish plot to take over the world.

-- Church of Israel - Dan Gayman, leader of the Missouri-based Church of Israel, a white supremacist group, predicts civil chaos, especially among "non-whites" whom he singles out from among welfare recipients as the most likely to resort to "unbridled killing" if the Y2K bug results in a temporary suspension of government entitlement programs. He advises followers to keep a "shotgun handy."

-- National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP) -- Predicts a doomsday Y2K scenario that includes a stock market crash, a run on the banks and general mayhem.

Militia and "Patriot" Groups

-- John Trochman and the Militia of Montana -- On his Web site, Trochman repeatedly refers to "secret" military reports that suggest an imminent U.S. government takeover.

-- NORFED -- Indiana organization claims the computer systems at the Federal Reserve and other world financial institutions will malfunction, causing the international monetary system to collapse.

-- Col. James "Bo" Gritz -- A former Green Beret and presidential candidate for the extremist Populist Party, Gritz has trained hundreds of anti-government zealots to fight a so-called "New World Order."

EDITORS NOTE: ADL experts are available for interviews on the findings of Y2K Paranoia or for more information on extremist groups and world terrorism. The report in its entirety may be viewed on the Internet at http://www.adl.org.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 20, 1999

Answers

Jeepers creepers, stop the world, I want to get off.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), December 20, 1999.

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12/20/99 -- 4:45 PM

Alleged nitroglycerin smuggling may dampen Seattle's New Year's

SEATTLE (AP) - As many as 60,000 revelers had been expected for a millennial bash at the foot of Seattle's Space Needle.

But after the World Trade Organization meeting collapsed in violence and an Algerian with possible terrorist links was charged with trying to smuggle in a trunkful of explosives from Canada, will anyone dare come to the party?

``We've wondered, if the Space Needle falls over, will it make it all the way to us?'' joked Greg Goar, whose Rock Memories shop sits a couple of blocks from the 605-foot tower at the Seattle Center, where an average of 30,000 people gather each New Year's Eve to count down midnight and watch the fireworks.

The Seattle Center planned for twice that number this year. But the arrest last week of Ahmed Ressam, who had reserved a motel room near the center while allegedly attempting to bring nitroglycerin, other explosives and four timing devices from Canada, may put a damper on the event.

Federal agents hunted for a second man believed to have stayed in a Vancouver, British Columbia, motel with Ressam in the weeks before the crossing Dec. 14.

``In a way, it brings home to Seattle some of the terrible, frightening terrorist threats. Here we are, suddenly faced with something like this,'' said Carl Smool, an artist overseeing the creation of 17 papier-mache and wooden sculptures that will be burned in the Seattle Center on Dec. 31.

Smool's creation includes the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, representing ``those human follies that might keep us from a hopeful future.''

The city still is recovering from the $20 million in damage and lost sales - and the incalculable bad publicity - that accompanied the WTO meeting Nov. 30-Dec. 1. As many as 45,000 protesters blocked downtown streets, with a few dozen smashing windows, setting fires and slashing police car tires.

A police crackdown resulted in more than 500 arrests and led to allegations of police mistreatment.

``The WTO gave us enough press that everybody's thinking about (Seattle) now, and you never know,'' Goar said. ``Crazy people do crazy things.''

City officials were accused of failing to prepare for WTO protests and to have enough police available. Seattle police said they will apply some of the lessons learned and will have as many as 900 officers on the street for New Year's.

Police spokesman Clem Benton declined to comment on Ressam's case and its effect on police planning. ``In the past, New Year's has never been a problem holiday'' for the department, he said. ``We're hoping it remains so.''

Workers at the Seattle Center - the site of the 1962 World's Fair - will erect a fence and install gates at each of its entrances for the event, just as it does for some large festivals, spokeswoman Kym Allen said. She would not discuss any additional security measures related to Ressam's arrest.

``What's important to us is that it be a safe and enjoyable experience regardless of how many people are there,'' she said.

Ressam, 32, was charged Friday in federal court with bringing nitroglycerine into the United States. He was also charged with having false identification and making false statements to customs officials.

Montreal police continued to investigate a possible link between Ressam and the Armed Islamic Group, a radical organization suspected in terrorist attacks in France and Algeria, police spokesman Andre Poirier said.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), December 20, 1999.

This kinda crap gives Kookiness a bad name.

Kook

-- Y2Kook (y2kook@usa.net), December 20, 1999.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

The ADL, like the Southern Poverty Law Center, does track some genuine nut groups and wackos to be sure but they also have their own agenda and they're not above tarring a lot of folks who are not involved with their broad brush.

There are some folks and some groups out there who are far, far around the bend but take anything the ADL and the SPLC says with a grain of salt because they may be trying to get you to believe there is more there than there really is.

This is particularly of importance to all of you "doomers" in this forum who are preparing and have thus made yourselves into survivalists.

..........Alan.

The Prudent Food Storage FAQ, v3.5

http://www.providenceco-op.com

-- A.T. Hagan (athagan@netscape.net), December 21, 1999.