Citizen Defense News WED 21 AUG 96 0100 HRS MACON (CDN) - Constitutional investigators have learned that similarities may exist between the type of pipe bomb used at the Olympics and others around the country. More details later in this report. ... But first, our Top Story: Atlanta Journal & Constitution e-mail: constitution@ajc.com Tuesday, August 20, 1996 Local News- Page 1B by David Kindred, At Large (Columnist for the Atlanta Journal & Constitution) Title: "Taking a 2nd look at Georgia Militia" It makes no sense. But the questions ought to be asked. What if the Georgia Republic militia is even a little bit right? What if the boys playing soldier in the Crawford County woods were not arming themselves, building bombs and otherwise preparing to go to war against the federal government? What if they were just good ol' boys playing soldier in the woods and cussin' out Uncle Sam between beers? We know that agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrested leaders of the militia in April on evidence produced by two informants who had infiltrated the organization. But what if the informants were rogues who took their act further than they should have? What if the informants planted the evidence that was then used to have the militiamen arrested? Informants are not sworn police officers. They're mercenaries used by the police to do dirty work. So they're hired hands looking to please the boss, in this case the ATF. Not only is there no guarantee these mercenaries will be honest, upright, law-abiding citizens, chances are they like the thrill of the chase as much as the honor of the law. So the question ought to be asked: What if the Georgia Republic Militia is even a little bit right when it claims the informants didn't just report what they saw, but invented something to report? That question comes up because a federal agent has testified in open court, under oath, that the founder of the Georgia Republic Militia was not present when pipe bomb components were buried on his property by an informant. _______________________________________________________________________ What if the informants were rogues who took their act further than they should have? _______________________________________________________________________ The agent also testified that a second militia member had said, "I don't want to know anything about it," and walked away when the government's informant talked about building bombs. Yet both men were arrested. Robert Edward Starr III and William James McCranie now await a Sept. 3 trial date on charges of conspiring to possess unregistered explosive devices. Their lawyer, Nancy Lord, said at a preliminary hearing, "This is beyond entrapment. It is manufactured evidence." She called the informants "agent provocateurs." No one wants to believe that. We don't want to believe our government works that way. Whether or not it does, we may find out soon. And we certainly don't want to believe the militiamen when they take their argument another step forward. They move from citing sworn testimony to speculating a theory of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing that could pass for a first draft of an Oliver Stone exercise in paranoia. They suggest that the government informants in the Macon case may have moved on to Atlanta during the Olympics and become the park bombers. The first week of May, the militiamen say, they answered an FBI request for information about the ATF informants, including photographs. Two days after the park bombing on July 27, militia spokesman, J.J. Johnson issued a written statement saying the organization had called the FBI, Atlanta police and Olympic federal security agency "and told them of suspects who know about and have made pipe bombs." He also wrote, "Based on news reports concerning a pipe bomb made of galvanized steel with nails attached and a white male with a soft Southern accent, we became concerned that the tragedy might be linked to individuals who we learned of through our investigation on the Macon case ..." Meanwhile, an Alabama militia group, the Gadsden Minutemen, has named the two ATF informants and distributed photographs of them. Neither man, it might be noted, bears a resemblance to Richard Jewell. _______________________________________________________________________ In other news... ATLANTA - Sources say they cannot confirm a match between the pipe bombs found on Georgia militiaman Robert Starr III's property and the one that detonated in Olympic Centennial Park on July 27, killing two and injuring 111. However, Lloyd Erwin, a chemist for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, with be in Washington, D.C. to conduct more tests, hopefully not on civilians. Richard Jewell, the soon-to-be wealthy security guard of Centennial Park, passed a polygraph test yesterday. Jack Martin, attorney for Jewell, appeared on CNN's "Talk Back Live" praising the results of the polygraph tests that were administered by Dick Rackleff, a former FBI agent. Although Martin still believes polygraph tests are controversial, especially went being administered by the FBI, he allowed the CNN audience to hold the news media in utter contempt, and discuss how and where Jewell should spend his early retirement. The 15 hour polygraph tests led Rackleff to say "He didn't do it". The 27 year FBI veteran went on to state," There's not any doubt in my mind. He had no knowledge about the bomb... The tests show he absolutely was not involved." One unnamed FBI official, says that based on the evidence that has been gathered from bombings around the nation, the only connection seems to be that of the ATF, a treasury department radical extremist group based in Washington, D.C., whose members have been linked to racist behavior, perjury, the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City, and the terrorist assualt on the Branch Davidian ranch that killed 86 people in April, 1993. "Pipe bombs are considered job security," say one retired ATF official who would not disclose his name. "It's just like the window salesman. When business is slow, we go out and break some windows". More news later. Stay tuned .... _______________________________________________________________________ There will be nightly, unbiased INTERNET reports on the proceedings in the U.S. vs. Starr/McCranie/Spain case. To be placed on the receiving list, e-mail with the words "MACON COURT LIST" in the SUBJECT field of your message. All attachment files will be in DOS (.txt) format. Postings start Sep 3rd. J.J. Johnson Off: (912) 788-6272 Citizen's Defense League Fax: (912) 785-1809 P.O. Box 7223 citizen@mindspring.com Macon, Georgia 31209 _______________________________________________________________________