Thursday December 09 09:06 PM EST

Militia Leader Arrested in Nuclear Plot TAMPA, Fla. (APBnews.com) -- A militia leader is in jail for plotting to blow up a Florida nuclear power plant and black out Atlanta by destroying electrical facilities, federal authorities said today.

Donald Beauregard, 31, of St. Petersburg, planned to carry out the attacks by stealing explosives and weapons from National Guard armories in central Florida, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office here.

Beauregard was arrested Wednesday after he was indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and weapons charges.

Anticipating Armageddon

His arrest, along with the arrests last week of two California militia members accused of plotting to blow up a propane installation, could be part of the FBI's effort to minimize the threat of violence from anti-government groups around the end of the millennium, said a spokesman for a prominent watchdog group.

"There is a real millennial frenzy out there right now on the radical right," Mark Potok of the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center told APBnews.com today. "Many believe we are in the run-up to the battle of Armageddon. There are others who believe the Y2K computer bug is going to bring about the crash of Western civilization ... and they see this as an opening to make the revolution they've all been pining for for years."

Potok said the timing of the bust indicates the plot might have been planned for New Year's.

"The FBI may be essentially rolling up people they fear are about to unleash violence around Dec. 31," Potok said.

'Hard-lined militia group'

Beauregard formerly was the leader of the Southeastern States Alliance (SSA), a coalition of militia groups from seven Southern states ranging from Florida to Kentucky to Virginia, Potok said.

The SSA was formed in 1997 to create a unified command structure, he said.

"The SSA is a relatively hard-lined militia group," Potok said. "A lot of groups are very concerned to show they're not racist, not white-supremacist and so on."

Potok said the SSA has a strong "Christian Identity" element in it, referring to the religious doctrine of some anti-government white supremacists.

"That's about as hard-line as you can get," Potok said. "It reflects something that's going on in militias. They're becoming harder-edged and there's more and more Christian Identity influence being seen."

Potok said a major player in the militia movement, Rick Ainsworth of Alabama, asked Beauregard last year to step down as SSA leader, which he did. Potok said he does not know why Ainsworth made the request.

Beauregard remained at the head of his local militia, the 111th Regiment Militia of Pinellas County, which formerly was the 77th Regiment, Potok said.

Investigation began in 1995

The arrest Wednesday came following an investigation that began in February 1995 and culminated with the indictment on Dec. 2, according to court papers.

Over that time, Beauregard conspired with other militia members on a plan to steal weapons and explosives from the National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve, and then to destroy energy facilities, the indictment says.

He also is accused of participating in combat, firearms, and explosives training; planning to kill a militia member he believed to be an informant; and committing weapons violations, according to the indictment.

In March 1996, Beauregard distributed a memorandum, "Project (Worst Nightmare)," to other militia commands that described plans to shut down federal operations, disrupt federal communications, and detain key federal leaders, the indictment said.

Three months later, Beauregard allegedly had a "target map" pinpointing electrical, utility, and police offices in Pinellas County.

Coordinated attack planned

The court papers say that at an SSA meeting in North Carolina in November 1997, Beauregard discussed breaking into National Guard armories in central Florida to steal weapons to destroy the Florida Power nuclear plant in Crystal River. He allegedly directed SSA members to develop plans to attack government facilities in each of their states.

A month later, Beauregard discussed carrying out simultaneous attacks on St. Petersburg and Atlanta power facilities, according to the indictment. A "scout" allegedly told him that destroying three key towers serving Atlanta would black out the area.

In March 1998, Beauregard called off plans to steal firearms and explosives from the National Guard Armory in Haines City, Fla., because of the arrest of some militia members in Michigan, the indictment said.

Two months ago, he tried to buy blasting caps in Kentucky, according to court papers, which also cite him for possessing at various times a can of nitromethane, a key ingredient in explosives; grenades, pipe bombs, and having access to a 20 mm cannon and a .50 caliber automatic machine gun.

Held without bond

Beauregard is charged with conspiring to damage government property and destroy energy facilities, and supporting terrorism. He also is charged with four firearms crimes.

He is being held in federal custody without bond, said Monte Richardson, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office here.

Beauregard does not have an attorney, said Craig Alldredge, the federal public defender who represented him Wednesday at the suspect's bond hearing in federal court.

Alldredge said he knows little about Beauregard, except that he has no criminal record.

Richardson said he could not comment on the possibility of further arrests.

"The investigation is ongoing; that's all we can say," he said.

Beauregard faces up to 55 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

By Richard Zitrin, an APBnews.com national correspondent.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ao/19991209/cr/19991209019.html

-- LOON (blooney10@aol.com), December 09, 1999

Answers

I guess he really didn't get it...why didn't he wait and see what happens first. Worst case, he could have saved himself the trouble!

I, too, am worried about all the crazies who are bent upon bringing down the system come January 1. It's hard enough to make sure that it's up then...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), December 09, 1999.

Very interesting story. The government is starting to really group Christians with militias, and they are all no good and violent. Weird how they are all of a sudden coming down on these folks so close to the end of the year. The man had not stole anything yet, wonder whom set him up?

-- sandy (rstyree@overland.net), December 09, 1999.

The round-up is gaining momentum. Can't read a story like this anymore without the tune of "Rawhide" goin thru my head.

Hey, I'm all for getting the crazies off the streets! But this article is FISHY! Sent in by a Rochester Freelancer, who just happened to be in Tampa interviewing all these people?

The article says Beauregard was working with other militia men to plan this, so why did they run the story before these other men are apprehended, cause they may still initiate the plan?!!!

Final gripe: Source questionable due to repetition of lingo from Project Megiddo. For instance, is "Christian Identity" a buzz word, or is it new lingo due to Project Megiddo? Apparently it is a buzz word for the author because he mentions it twice, the first time even defining it as it is defined by Project Megiddo: ""Christian Identity" element in it, referring to the religious doctrine of some anti-government white supremacists."

Before reading 2 weeks ago Project Megiddo I never thought of Christians as being anti-government white sepremists, yet that seems to come natural to the author here. Fishy...

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 10, 1999.

I lost all respect when I read "Southern Poverty Law Center"....

-- (Dawnbringr@aol.com), December 10, 1999.

Joe Farrah at WorldNetDaily has an op-ed piece Thursday on the issue of the FBI "moles" inciting these militia types to engage in various terrorist activities. He seems to think that it is a deliberate attempt to destabilize society in order to ensure that the general populace will cry out to the Federal govt. to save them from the percieved chaos.

Interesting....

-- TM (mercier7@pdnt.com), December 10, 1999.

Hokie -

Please distinguish between Christians and "Christian Identity". "Christian Identity" is a racist movement that has little to do with what most people think of as Christianity. CI claims that white people are the true lost tribes of Israel and other such nonsense, and completely skips over most of the message of New Testament.

There have been a growing number of recent reports of violence by adherents of CI, including the shooting at the Jewish daycare center in LA. I am glad the FBI is on their case.

-- secular humanist (someone@somewhere.com), December 10, 1999.

Looks like another Tinfoil from this forum is "going away for awhile..."

Who's gonna be next?

-- Y2K Pro (y2kpro@cennsored.com), December 10, 1999.

What I find disturbing is this:

"Two months ago, he tried to buy blasting caps in Kentucky, according to court papers, which also cite him for possesing at various times a can of nitromethane, a key ingredient in explosives; grenades, pipe bombs, and having access to a 20 mm cannon and a .50 caliber automatic machine gun."

That is an awful wide brush to try and cover this guy with. Some of what this guy did is criminal, and some of this is ridiculous. For example, trying to buy blasting caps without proper federal paperwork IS a crime.

But anyone can go to a hobby store and buy a can of nitromethane, it's called "model airplane fuel" and if "possessing a can of nitromethane" is a federal offense, then I know of clubs fuill of guys who've been unconvicted felons since they were teens. And heaven forbid anyone take a look at some drag racers I know, they use nitromethane in fifty gallon drums.

Owning live hand grenades IS illegal. Same for pipe bombs. And pipe bombs are pretty dangerous for one's self, too.

But I've never heard of "having access" to any kind of weapon being a crime for someone who wasn't a convicted felon. And according to the story, this guy has no criminal record, hence access to any weapon shouldn't be a crime.

Access to a weapon isn't possession of that weapon. Ilegally possessing controlled weapons (machine guns and other Class 3 firearms) IS a crime. Is there a legal definition of "access"? Are there laws that "restrict access" to weapons?

What is access? Walking into a gunstore that sells those weapons? Visiting a military museum with those weapons on display? Having a freind who owns one and allows you to fire his weapon at the firing range?

This really bothers me because if "having access" to something is a criminal act, the determination of what that means involves a "Thought Police" aspect. And that is not part of the American legal system provided by the Constitution.

Do we allow the Thought Police to determine what someone having access to an item means? You have access to a vehicle, is that your daily commute vehicle or is it an escape car for a bank robbery you might commit, since you have access to the bank down the block.

"We think you may harbor criminal thoughts, so we'll pre-emptively arrest you for being the intended getaway driver in a potential bank robbery."

If we are going to start charging people for crimes or actions the MIGHT commit or for merely HAVING ACCESS to any object, then we are far beyond the worst many of us have ever envisioned as the systgem having gotten out of control. Whatever the charges against this man that are real, additional charges which are nothing but BS will do nothing but weaken the actual case and strengthen the sentiment among the militia movement that the government is out to get them through trumped-up charges.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), December 10, 1999.

Wild Weasal- it has happened before; the Demonization of David Koresh was why the save-the-children Federal Government had to burn and kill 86 members of a "violent cult".

This is what tipped off the bias of the article to me:

<- "The SSA is a relatively hard-lined militia group," Potok said. "A lot of groups are very concerned to show they're not racist, not white-supremacist and so on." Potok said the SSA has a strong "Christian Identity" element in it, referring to the religious doctrine of some anti-government white supremacists. ->

Oh, and check this: <-Beauregard is charged with conspiring to damage government property and destroy energy facilities, and supporting terrorism. He also is charged with four firearms crimes. ->

That would be as a result of the 'new' Federal Terrorism "Laws" that came into existance 2 months after the OKC bombing.

ALL of the crimes that are listed in that news article are not Constitutional. Therefore they are NOT legal. This man is being held illegally as a Political prisoner. He is being held WITHOUT BAIL for the EXACT SAME actions that Samuel Adams and John Adams were accused of by the powerfull government of the time.

What do you think about that.

-- Brent James Bushardt (brentj@webt.com), December 10, 1999.

Wild Weasal- it has happened before; the Demonization of David Koresh was why the save-the-children Federal Government had to burn and kill 86 members of a "violent cult".

This is what tipped off the bias of the article to me:

<- "The SSA is a relatively hard-lined militia group," Potok said. "A lot of groups are very concerned to show they're not racist, not white-supremacist and so on." Potok said the SSA has a strong "Christian Identity" element in it, referring to the religious doctrine of some anti-government white supremacists. ->

Oh, and check this: <-Beauregard is charged with conspiring to damage government property and destroy energy facilities, and supporting terrorism. He also is charged with four firearms crimes. ->

That would be as a result of the 'new' Federal Terrorism "Laws" that came into existance 2 months after the OKC bombing.

ALL of the crimes that are listed in that news article are not Constitutional. Therefore they are NOT legal. This man is being held illegally as a Political prisoner. He is being held WITHOUT BAIL for the EXACT SAME actions that Samuel Adams and John Adams were accused of by the powerfull government of the time.

What do you think about that??

-- Brent James Bushardt (brentj@webt.com), December 10, 1999.