Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 23, 1995 TAG: 9505230113
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Stump came to Pulaski County Circuit Court Monday in hopes of appearing before a county grand jury to outline charges he thinks should be placed against a government informant and an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent - both prominent in the federal cases against Stump and other members of the Blue Ridge Hunt Club.
Stump stood outside the county courts building at 8:45 a.m., holding a large poster he hoped would catch one of the five members' attention as they entered court.
"To the Grand Jury: Call me, William Stump, to testify. I have knowledge of a crime that the Commonwealth's Attorney has refused to investigate," the sign read.
About three hours later, as Judge Duane Mink prepared to release the grand jury for lunch, Stump asked permission to go before the panel.
Stump said he had evidence that the informant "was planning terrorist activity" and unsuccessfully tried to get another club member to affiliate the group with the Ku Klux Klan.
And, Stump said, ATF Agent Scott Fairburn should be investigated for treason. Stump, a 35-year-old machinist, believes federal government officers have no jurisdiction in Virginia.
But Commonwealth's Attorney Everett Shockley and Mink told Stump he had not exhausted proper channels by taking his case to any of four Pulaski County law enforcement agencies.
A watchful court bailiff left his post at the bench and strode to the front row of the gallery when Stump walked toward his briefcase there. Stump was only arming himself with file folders he hoped to give the grand jurors, but then agreed to share with Shockley and the Sheriff's Office.
Stump was one of five men charged in connection with activities of the Blue Ridge Hunt Club, a self-styled civilian militia formed to fight restrictive gun laws and defend the citizenry against armed government agents if need be. Stump is charged with conspiracy to commit federal firearms violations and with possessing unregistered silencers.
The 15-member club met only three times, but vice president Raeford Nelson Thompson - acting as an informant - was wearing a recording device all along.
Stump is alleging that Thompson was more than an informant. In one of the documents he prepared for the grand jury, Stump claims Thompson "gathered together the members of the Blue Ridge Hunt Club ... to promote his own plans for terrorist activity."
Members lower on the chain of command, like him, had no idea of the guerrilla warfare plans the government says were being formulated, Stump said.
"We were all there to organize a Virginia militia," Stump said outside court. "It's ridiculous to think that I wanted everybody to be a terrorist."
Shockley said Stump had come to his office once since his arrest, making inquiries about the power of Congress and saying ATF agents are illegally employed by the federal government.
But, Shockley told the judge, "Without knowing more ... certainly I have no intention of sending him before the grand jury. I don't think that people can just line up at the door and say 'I want to speak to the grand jury.'"
Stump said follow-up phone calls to Shockley were not returned and that he had not received return calls from the Sheriff's Office, either. He said that showed he had attempted to take his complaints to proper authorities and should be allowed to address the grand jury, which has the power to act as an investigative body.
Mink told Stump that if Stump still feels he hasn't been properly heard after authorities review his complaints, he should speak with Judge Colin Gibb, who normally presides over Pulaski County Circuit Court.
Reached at home Monday night, Thompson said he hadn't heard about what happened at the courthouse.
"I don't know what's going on," he said, "so I think it's best I don't make any comments."
By chance, Fairburn, the ATF agent, happened to be in Pulaski Monday on another matter, but heard about the incident before he got to the courthouse and stayed away, said Jim Silvey, resident agent in charge of Roanoke's ATF office.
It's ironic, Silvey said, that U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser delayed Stump's trial last month "in order to protect Mr. Stump's rights. And of course, he continues to call attention to himself" with news conferences and court appearances.
U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser postponed Stump's trial after the Oklahoma City federal building was bombed out of concern that an impartial jury would be hard to find for a trial about a militia.
In March, Stump - who is representing himself - filed a writ of habeas corpus demanding that President Clinton appear in Pulaski County to explain why the federal government is charging him. A Pulaski judge later dismissed the motion.
Staff writer Jan Vertefeuille contributed to this story.
by CNB