The Birmingham News - Agent says militia targeted Hispanics
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The Birmingham News
Agent says militia targeted Hispanics
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
VAL WALTON
News staff writer
The heavily armed Alabama Free Militia planned to attack a group of
Hispanics in Blount County and had orders to open fire immediately if
they saw the feds coming, an ATF agent said Tuesday.
Adam Nesmith of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives testified during a federal court hearing that the men had a
plan to attack a group of Mexicans in the Remlap area with machine
guns.
Nesmith said two of the men and a confidential informant went on a
reconnaissance mission to Remlap on April 20, six days before federal,
state and local law enforcement officers carried out last Thursday's
raids in four Alabama counties, confiscating truckloads of explosives,
130 grenades and 2,500 rounds of ammunition.
Nesmith said Raymond Dillard, described as the militia major, and
James Ray McElroy, a private, were the two who traveled to Remlap.
Nesmith said Dillard, who had the highest rank, told the informant
there were standing orders that if the militia saw the feds coming
they were to open fire immediately because "they are the enemy."
As the surprise raids were carried out, agents found massive amounts
of weapons, trip wires and two hand grenades rigged as booby traps at
the Collinsville camper home of 46-year-old Dillard, also known as
Jeff Osborne.
Arrested following the raids were Dillard; McElroy, 20, of
Collinsville; Bonnell Hughes, 57, of Crossville; Randall Garrett Cole,
22, of Gadsden; and Adam Lynn Cunningham, 41, of Collinsville. They
are charged with conspiracy to make a firearm.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Armstrong Jr. denied bond for the five
men following Nesmith's testimony in a Birmingham detention hearing.
Prosecutor Michael Whisonant had asked that the men be detained,
saying they were flight risks and a danger to society.
Armstrong said the men were not candidates for release, despite
defense attorneys' effort to distance their clients from the whole
cache of weapons and to have relatives post property bonds.
"I would be worried to let them go at this time," Armstrong said.
The men, clean shaven, appeared in court wearing leg irons and orange
jail jumpsuits.
Armstrong did approve a $10,000 property bond with stringent
conditions for Michael Wayne Bobo, a sixth defendant.
Bobo, 30, was arrested at his Trussville home following Thursday's
raid. He is charged with being a drug user in possession of a firearm.
ATF agent Larry Alt testified that Bobo had as much as 2,500 rounds of
ammunition, guns and a room that was sort of a "chemistry set."
"It had all the components for someone wanting to create an explosive
device," Alt said.
Bobo had met with Dillard and McElroy in April and discussed illegal
immigrants, the government and grenades, Alt said.
Bobby Bobo, Michael Bobo's father, testified Tuesday that he knew
about "some of the things" and knew his son had a gun collection. But
he said a relative who is an Army officer assured him nothing was
illegal.
The elder Bobo said he was unaware that his son was associating with
militia members.
The ATF and the Alabama State Fire Marshal's Office initiated an
investigation into the group about seven weeks ago. They used the
confidential informant to infiltrate the militia and document grenade-
making with video and audio recordings. The informant had met Dillard
at a DeKalb County flea market in the fall.
The investigation prompted raids in DeKalb, Marshall, Etowah and
Jefferson counties. Federal, state and local law enforcement
authorities returned to DeKalb County Tuesday to search a cave along a
mountainous ridge behind Cunningham's home in Collinsville after
getting tips that more explosives and weapons may be hidden there. But
the eight-hour search ended without turning up any more weapons, said
DeKalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris.
News staff writer Kent Faulk contributed to this report.
vwa...@bhamnews.com