ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 27, 1996 TAG: 9604290030
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: The Washington Post
Federal Treasury agents arrested two Georgia militia members Friday after an undercover investigation allegedly found they were plotting to make dozens of pipe bombs this weekend to arm themselves for an upcoming ``war'' against the United Nations and the New World Order.
The arrests came at a time of heightened security in and around the Atlanta area, where the summer Olympics will be held, and increased law enforcement surveillance of the home-grown militia groups that have sprung up across the country.
Hate-watchdog groups in Georgia said a series of incidents over the past year in which large amounts of explosive-making material were stolen from businesses or found in the possession of far right-wing sympathizers have made them concerned about terrorism at the Olympics.
The men arrested Friday in a rural area near Macon were members of the Georgia Republic Militia, one of 17 citizen militias identified in the state, said Joe Roy, director of the Klanwatch militia task force at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala. The center, which tracks militia activity, recently warned that the militias are more dangerous than ever and it is ``only a matter of time before the country endures another nightmare like the Oklahoma City tragedy.''
Roy noted that the law center has talked to law enforcement authorities in Atlanta about safeguarding against possible attacks at the Olympics by militias and other fringe groups. The militia movement is partly grounded in the theory that the federal government and the United Nations are engaged in a conspiracy to wrest away the liberties of Americans.
Officials of the Justice Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms moved quickly Friday to deny initial press reports that the Georgia men were planning to sabotage the Olympics. A senior FBI official said, ``There is absolutely no connection between these guys and the Olympics.'' Justice Department spokesman Carl Stern echoed those remarks, saying ``there is no allegation that these men were plotting against the Olympics.''
ATF agents uncovered a bomb-production site near Macon in rural Georgia after a long investigation that intensified after an ATF informant allegedly learned of plans to construct as many as 40 bombs. Members of the Georgia Republic Militia were building and planning to distribute homemade shrapnel bombs among the group ``to defend their rights against the invasion of the government,'' an federal affidavit states.
``They were building pipe bombs and planning to spread them among their membership,'' a Treasury official said. ``That in itself is significant. The fact that these guys are in the general area of the Olympic games was of concern.''
Robert Starr, 34, the commander of the 11-to 15-member militia, and William James McCranie Jr., 30, a plumber from Crawford County, were charged in a ``conspiracy to possess explosive devices'' and arraigned Friday in front of federal magistrates in Columbus and Macon. Other members of the militia face scrutiny and possible charges, federal law enforcement sources said.
Authorities have been monitoring a series of thefts of potential explosive material in Georgia.
Atlanta lawyer Nancy Lord, who has represented militia members, said Friday: ``From what I know of Bob Starr, this is very hard to believe. This smells of some kind of government setup. I have never heard Bob Starr say, `Let's go take out a building or a bridge.' He is a reasonable militia leader, takes his activism seriously and is measured in his speaking.''
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. William McCranie Jr. enters the federal courthouseby CNBin Columbus, Ga., for arraignment Friday on charges of conspiracy to
possess and distribute explosive devices. color.