A routine murder trial in Georgia took an unexpected turn today after it was revealed that the men on trial for murdering a fellow servicemember and his girlfriend murdered them to cover up their plot to assume control of Fort Stewart and assassinate President Obama.
LUDOWICI, Ga. (AP) — Four Army soldiers based in southeast Georgia killed a former comrade and his girlfriend to protect an anarchist militia group they formed that stockpiled assault weapons and plotted a range of anti-government attacks, prosecutors told a judge Monday.
Prosecutors in rural Long County, near the sprawling Army post Fort Stewart, said the militia group composed of active duty and former U.S. military members spent at least $87,000 buying guns and bomb components and was serious enough to kill two people — former soldier Michael Roark and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Tiffany York — by shooting them in the woods last December in order to keep its plans secret. [...]
The prosecutor said the militia group had big plans. It plotted to take over Fort Stewart by seizing its ammunition control point and talked of bombing the Forsyth Park fountain in nearby Savannah, she said. In Washington state, she added, the group plotted to bomb a dam and poison the state's apple crop. Ultimately, prosecutors said, the militia's goal was to overthrow the government and assassinate the president.
Remember the Department of Homeland Security memo on right-wing extremists? The one that placed an emphasis on the vulnerability of veterans to recruitment? The one everyone condemned?
You don't kill people to cover up your plans and spend $87,000 on guns and bombs if you aren't serious.
The Republicans, including Mitt Romney just recently, have spent the last four years courting the idea that President Obama is an illegitimate president. And the notion, propagated by Fox News and talk radio, that voter fraud is rampant serves to reinforce the idea that a second term would not only be illegitimate but also stolen.
If he wins re-election, this kind of incident will become more frequent.