An FBI domestic-terrorism unit warns that extremists may initiate violent confrontations

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http://www.oregonlive.com/news/99/11/st111511.html

Agencies brace for Y2K violence

An FBI domestic-terrorism unit warns that extremists may initiate violent confrontations

Sunday, November 14, 1999

By ADAM RUSH of The Associated Press

BOISE -- While companies scramble to ensure their computer systems are Y2K-compliant, police departments across the country and the FBI are preparing for potential violence by extremists on Jan. 1.

Dominic Venturi, the supervisory agent in charge of the FBI field office in Boise, said a special command post will be staffed around the clock Dec. 29 through Jan. 5 in Idaho as well as other states.

"We're prepared to respond whether an incident is urban or rural," Venturi said.

Opinions vary on how much of a threat fringe groups pose, but a 34-page report from the FBI's domestic-terrorism unit warns of militias and racist groups acquiring weapons and surveying targets.

"Several religiously motivated groups envision a quick, fiery ending in an apocalyptic battle," the report said. "Armed with the urgency of the millennium as a motivating factor, new clandestine groups may conceivably form to engage in violence toward the U.S. government or its citizens."

And while FBI officials view large cities as more likely to be terrorist targets, they are not ruling out other locations.

But Venturi, and officials with the Boise Police Department, are reluctant to discuss security specifics.

Lt. Larry Jones said officers have received additional training to deal with potential violence on New Year's Eve, and there will be more officers on the streets. The department also has worked to protect potential targets.

"We are aware of certain areas that are of a high visibility and high value as targets, and we're working with the security personnel from those areas to coordinate security efforts," Jones said.

Meridian Police Chief Bill Gordon, prompted by concerns about rioting, asked for $18,000 from the City Council to buy rifles, helmets, shields, ammunition, clubs and other equipment. He later withdrew the special request amid skepticism.

"Everybody wants to be ready for anything that could take place," Gordon said. "Our main concern is the availability of the officer. We're not going to run more shifts, but everyone will be available like years past on New Year's Eve."

While academics who study extremist groups are doubtful there will be violence, they are well-aware the groups can be unpredictable.

James Richardson, a professor of Sociology and Judicial Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, said irrational beliefs, coupled with an approaching millennium, can be a lethal combination.

"There may be some people who think not only is the world going to come to an end, but they are a chosen instrument that is supposed to help it along," Richardson said. "All it takes is somebody with a little plastic explosive in a backpack and they can do a lot of damage."

And Richardson, who advises the FBI on dealing with extremists, said organized groups sometimes are not the culprits in terrorist acts.

"One noteworthy thing about this phenomenon is that it's often not groups but loners who think they're doing the Lord's will or they're doing the right thing," Richardson said.

Some of the advice he gives to the FBI is to develop a thorough understanding of fringe groups.

"I've been working to convince them they really need to understand the mind set and world view of these groups," Richardson said. "If you do that, you may figure out openings and ways to get some leverage on them. It doesn't do any good to denigrate those people."

The FBI said one of those groups, Concerned Christians, has tried to initiate violent confrontations in an effort to start Armageddon. Monte Kim Miller, the group's leader, claims to be one of the two witnesses or prophets described in the Book of Revelation who will die on the streets of Jerusalem prior to the second coming of Christ.

Members of the group traveled to Israel in 1998 to prepare for next month. Fourteen have since been deported by the Israeli government.

James Aho, an Idaho State University sociology professor specializing in religion, said the violent extremist groups often exaggerate their importance.

"People seem to think that our time, my time, me with a capital M, is somehow special," Aho said. "We think our time is the most important time and our society is the most important society. In reality, our world is just a speck of dust in the universe."

Sunday, November 14, 1999



-- Uncle Bob (UNCLB0B@Tminus45&counting.down), November 16, 1999

Answers

I won't try to figure out which "groups" will become violent on 1-1- 00.

It's my opinion that a general violent outburst in most major cities is inevitable, by almost any one person or group. Think about soccer, the Bulls, hockey...almost all massive celebratory gatherings result in some form of violence. I EXPECT 1-1-00 celebrations to be no different, but actually, worse. If you couple the general hysteria of the New Year with a lone or group, half or whole drunk nut, it will only take a spark to ignite full blown chaos. I obviously don't want to see or hear about this happening, scenes like that always make me cringe, unfourtunatly, this is a distinct possibility, and all we can do is hope the degree is kept low. Peace to all.

Historically, the actions of the few, always adversly affect the lives of many.

-- CygnusXI (noburnt@toast.net), November 16, 1999.


Frankly,

This one concerns me more...

Two important releases from Clark Staten of ERRI. A new warning against anti-US/UN terrorism. (stay alert in Seattle.), interview w/ ex sov biowar scientist.

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



-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 16, 1999.


The one thing to most keep in mind about evil people is they don't think they are evil. I'm positive Adolph Hitler was convinced he was absolutely justified in everything he did. The same goes for the goon.gov types.

Best thing is to let natural selection take it's course. If the BITR is a mile high, the cut off revenue stream will demonetize the goons. If the doomsday cults want to cut their wrists in the streets for their version of God's glory, I say let'em. Try to stop any violence against others of course.

The gene pool will be mixed up soon, let's see what crawls out of it!

Kook

-- Y2Kook (Y2Kook@usa.net), November 16, 1999.


It amazes me that the FBI continues to claim that "Evil Foreign Terrorists and Religious Nutters Will Eat Your Baby, Hijack the Networks and Broadcast Creationism", when the consistent message elsewhere is "All is well. Keep your heads down and continue eating the grass, citizens."

I'm really not a paranoid person, but I'm beginning to smell a hint of smoke... a smoke-screen, in fact. Are they giving Americans something tangible but not *really* that worrying (I'm DAMN sure that the UK won't be mentioning terrorists) to chew on, to distract them from a bigger issue? And/or are they really planning to blame everything that goes wrong on Arab terrorists?

Prediction: "It's a Wonderful Life" gets replaced by "True Lies" on the Christmas schedules.

-- Colin MacDonald (roborogerborg@yahoo.com), November 16, 1999.


---sure, it MIGHT be terrorists, i've already written on this point. but basically, i don't think "they" have much of a clue about any foreign terrorists. all they mostly concentrate on is soft targets and working there way down clinton and hillary's enemies list. where's the big brave fed agents looking into any of the "arkanicide" mysterious deaths? huh? where? Phooie. they stop any high tech nuke bomb info from getting out? they find any of the hidden spetsnaz buried weapons of mass destruction? they arrest any of the TRAITORS from several big US companies that transferred super computers from here to china and russia? oh, ya, but they sure can arrest some lady at a demonstration who yells out "clinton sucks!"that they're good at, real good. I can't believe they can look at themselves in the mirror in the morning, knowing as they must do what's going on at the highest levels of the executive and judicial branches. Now I DO bet that there's a high percentage who are really pissed off that their bosses won't let them do real, high level federal crime work, but basically, that would involve arrwesting their own bosses! can't be done, and that's one of the reasons folks are so scared--no one is watching the watchers. we're all caught between a rock and a hard place on this one. No winners. personally, I'm real tired of being demonized because of a desire to have simple, easy to understand laws and rules that are obeyed by everyone. this is supposed to be a civilized country, but the bosses and agents at the top who are running completely amok are holding most of the cards, well, all of them except the internet, for now, and numbers. that's it. --guess we'll see if there's a repeat of the world war 2 internment roundups, or the red scare hysteria of the thirties, with blank warrants, torture, no due process, etc. my guess is it will probably happen, and any potential y2k related failure will be blamed on ANYTHING but bad code, bad chips, and the too little too late syndrome of american management style. CYA is alive and well. oh, my, can't jeopardize my career, maybe SOMEONE will "come out" and tell the truth and act honorably, but I can't, I have a life and wife and kids and my CAREER to think about. double phooie. no guts. no honor. no integrity. no sense of right and wrong and historical perpective. triple phooie. and they wonder why people don't like them? what sort of "clue" do they need? are they really that blind, or are they really that evil? or what? of course, according to the polls, 60% of the people love the king, they also love the "get tough on crime" scene, makes em feel SO macho...I didn't have sex with that woman.....we aren't expecting any problems at all, everything mission critical is on track or fixed and tested...welcome to our new 50 million buck y2k command bunker that we built because we don't need it...federal sources say be on the lookout for dangerous people who have more than 5 lbs of rice and an evil assault single shot shotgun arsenal, as they will be conspiring in their bunkers with fellow religious fanatic militia members to plot and take over the whole usa by using their sophisticated kerosene lamp computer hacking tools that they downloaded off of the internet at hate speech sites for disrupting the entire electrical grid and telecommunications networks by shining the light on their phones and electrical outlets at home....authorities say that this potentially catastrophic behavior will cause all the minor children in the country to become fascinated with guns and not take their ritalin......news at 11........

-- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), November 16, 1999.


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