Picture of suspects in St. John Parish shootings starting to emerge
Source: NOLA.com (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
A grainy picture is starting to emerge of the suspects involved in the shootings Thursday morning that claimed the lives of two St. John Parish sheriff's deputies and injured two others. Five of them had apparently been under surveillance in DeSoto Parish in north Louisiana two months ago, and at least one of them was considered a fugitive in Nebraska and Kansas for "making terroristic threats" as well as allegedly selling marijuana.
Authorities believe that suspect, Kyle Joekel, 29, may have ties to anti-government groups, in particular a loose organization known as Posse Comitatus that generally doesn't recognize authority above the level of county sheriff. The name of the group means "power of the county" in Latin, according to the Anti-Defamation League's website.
Group members refuse to recognize various aspects of federal authority, and some refuse to pay taxes. The group has been associated with citizen militias as well as neo-Nazi organizations.
Lt. Robert Davidson of the DeSoto Parish Sheriff's office told The Shreveport Times that the suspects in custody include Kyle Joekel, Brian Smith, Terry Smith, 44, and Derrick Smith, 22. Terry Smith is the father of both Derrick and Brian Smith, according to Davidson, who identified. Brian Smith and Joekel as the shooters in the incident. Davidson said he did not know the name of the other suspects.
Read more: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/08/picture_of_5_suspects_in_st_jo.html
Posse Comitatus; the grand-daddy of the Tea Party Movement, and the direct ancestor of the Sovereign Citizen Movement as well. I'll be honest, I didn't even know they were still functioning in any capacity. Looks like this bunch was moonlighting as drug dealers as well. Check out some of the comments on the source website; there may be some links to the right generally. Here's a comment from a poster there I found quite interesting:
From Terry Lyn Smith's (one of the suspects) Facebook page.
He supports the "Independent Citizens Movement"
The Independent Citizens Movement (or Independent Citizens' Movement) is a conservative political party in the U.S. Virgin Islands that was founded by Virdin C. Brown and Steve O'Reilly in 1968. Its symbol is the torch.
Early history
The party had its first political candidates in 1968, and it ran candidates again in 1970. An advertisement in The Virgin Islands Daily News on June 24, 1970 listed Fabian Martinez as the party's president.
The party's mission, according to a speech by Brown in 1969, is to "give the government back to the people through good, responsive, and responsible leadership." The party's platform was published in The Virgin Islands Daily News on October 26, 1974. The platform includes increasing the autonomy of the Virgin Islands and increased control over the territory's internal affairs, while still remaining a part of the United States.
Party member Cyril E. King successfully ran for governor in 1974. King was succeeded as Governor in turn by his former ICM Lieutenant Governor Juan Francisco Luis who remained in office until 1987.
Recent history
From 1995 to 1997 Victor O. Frazer was Delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands as the party's candidate, although he served as an independent in the House.
But, hey, there's no such thing as right-wing terrorist kooks running around armed to the teeth, right? Right?
Ian David
(69,059 posts)See also:
http://tinyurl.com/TeaTerror
And
http://tinyurl.com/TeaTerror2
Berlin Expat
(946 posts)in the event President Obama is re-elected (and I do sincerely hope he will be), these folks on the right are gonna go absolute apesh*t. It's going to be a 100%, total peak wingnut apocalypse. They simply won't be able to handle it, and I wouldn't at all be shocked, not one iota, if they start doing crazy things.
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)Berlin Expat
(946 posts)meth is a huge problem, even here in the Czech Republic.
I was reading that the authorities in Vietnam are having problems with it now as well. It's gone global!!
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)...for meth. About 80% are positive for alcohol.
Berlin Expat
(946 posts)bad.
Meth is getting popular with the kiddies over here, though weed and booze seem to be the drug(s) of choice; but the Czech cops are concerned because more of people they've been arresting lately are under the influence of meth. Not so much in Prague, per se, but in smaller towns. Here in the eastern Czech Republic, it's getting to be a problem. A big problem.
I lived in and around Portland, OR for about 20 years, and saw the rise of meth in the early to mid-90s. Not a good thing to witness, I can say that.
secondvariety
(1,245 posts)ol' Kyle will be recognizing the authority now. Death Row at Angola.
Berlin Expat
(946 posts)idiots like ol' Kyle regard themselves as "martyrs" to their fatuous cause.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Berlin Expat
(946 posts)and I often wonder if things will get better. The right is going berserk this election cycle, talking in apocalyptic terms about this November's election. I think they well go off the deep end should President Obama be re-elected to a second term.
riverbendviewgal
(4,251 posts)How many of these people belonging to these violent right wing groups out there?
boomerbust
(2,181 posts)This dude had an AK47.