Alaska Militia trial now in the hands of the jury.

Coleman Barney, Francis "Schaeffer" Cox, and Lonnie Vernon.

I think this might be the most important part of the prosecutions case, courtesy of the Fairbanks Newsminer:

The most serious charge is the conspiracy to murder charge, and in jury instructions that took more than an hour to read Wednesday, jurors were told that to convict, they must determine the men committed an overt act as part of the conspiracy. 

Prosecutors said there were several. The one most frequently discussed at the trial was the “security detail” assigned to protect Cox in North Pole. 

Cox feared he was the target of a Colorado-based hit squad, and militia members conducted two meetings about what they planned to do if plainclothes men appeared at the station and started shooting. They came up with a plan for a nine-member security detail but could find only five willing to take part. 

Vernon, Skrocki said, showed up with a helmet, body armor and an assault rifle. Barney wore body armor and carried an assault rifle equipped with a launcher with an anti-personnel shell. That constituted a plan to kill federal officers, Skrocki said, even though the government acknowledges that no FBI hit squad exists. 

The defendants also compiled names and addresses in a database held by an unindicted co-conspirator, Michael Anderson. Prosecutors likened the database to an enemies list or a hit list. Anderson, an associate of Cox but not a militia member, eventually destroyed the computer and hard drive on which it was compiled. 

Skrocki told jurors that what they heard from defense lawyers in closing arguments was a lot of excuses and attacks on government informants. By asking militia members to accompany him to the North Pole television interview, and telling them they had to be ready to kill, Cox was recruiting a hit squad ready to kill federal officials, Skrocki said. 

Now I haven't heard all of the evidence presented at trial (Though to be honest I may actually have heard more from my sources than the jury heard from the prosecution.), however it would seem to me that there is ample evidence to put these yahoos away for quite a ling time.

And I have every confidence that they will soon be seeing the world through iron bars.

I happened to peruse the comments section below this Newsminer article, and found that Norm Olson, the godfather of the Alaska militias, was back to shooting his mouth off after having laid low for awhile directly after the arrests.

normolson 

Riddle me this: 

How can the threat to kill be a crime if there is no one to kill? 

If I say that I am stockpiling long range rifles to use against alien spacecraft once they enter the atmosphere, is that a crime? If I say that I am stockpiling and training to kill as many Chinese invaders as possible, is that a crime? If I threaten to kill 200 pound flesh-eating blue parrots that are coming from zombie villages in Brazil, is that a crime? If I stalk the woods, hunting for zombies to kill, is it a crime to openly threaten either the aliens, Chinese, parrots, or zombies? 

 Comeon' folks, put your logic to work... 

On the one hand Olson's logic is flawed if he does not understand that armed men working as "security" for a raving lunatic, and who have been instructed to fight to the death against law enforcement, does not present a danger to the police officers, State Troopers, and yes even average Alaskan citizens.

On the other hand it is nice to know that Olson is prepared to defend Alaska from an attack of flesh eating parrots and alien spacecraft.  I know I'll certainly sleep better.

What a camo covered dipshit.

Just how much daylight is there between Todd Palin's old party, the Alaska Independence Party, and the militias in Alaska? As it turns out, not much at all.

Ray Southwell and Norm Olson co-founders of the Alaska Citizens Militia.

For quite some time now the AIP has been very, very quiet about the arrest of Francis "Schaeffer" Cox, which I thought was kind of interesting since I have long believed that the AIP shares a number of members with various militias around the state.

In fact Mary Morgan, Shaeffer's number one fan and currently incarcerated domestic terrorist, appears to be a member of both. In fact she is STILL listed as an AIP contact person for the Muldoon/Mountain View/Wonder Park area.

However I have recently learned that this connection was made virtually official back in 2010, when the AIP offered Alaska Citizens Militia founder Norm Olson the Lt. Governor position on their party's ticket:

AIP leadership met Friday in Nikiski and selected Norm Olson, of Nikiski, co-founder of the Michigan Militia and Alaska Citizens Militia, as its nominee for lieutenant governor. 

Olson said he was contacted by party representatives Friday and asked to consider the party’s lieutenant governor slot on the November general election ballot, to run with Don Wright as the AIP candidate for governor. 

“There’s nothing about the Alaskan Independence Party that I don’t like. It’s just great,” Olson said. “And when I was asked to run as their lieutenant governor in the upcoming elections I jumped on the bandwagon and accepted the nomination and threw my hat in the ring, so to speak.”

Now for reasons that are still a little hazy ( Ray Southwell, AIP state senate candidate and Alaska Citizens militia co-founder: “I’ve known Norm Olson for 25 years and I knew that once he was appraised of the situation or the circumstances leading up to the Friday meeting that he would withdraw his name.”) Olson was only the nominee for one weekend, before he bailed.

However for that one weekend Olson seemed to believe that his Lt. Governor nomination (For a party that had no hope of winning the election mind you) was tantamount to being nominated for emperor of Alaska.

See for yourself in this e-mail that Olson sent out to his supporters on September 4, 2010.(And which I now have in my possession.):