ANOTHER "REAL AMERICA" EVENT

The rightwing nuts have almost struck again, this time in the home state of Sarah "real people" Palin.

Five charged in alleged plot to kidnap or kill troopers, judge

FAIRBANKS: Scheme targeted judge and state troopers, officials say.

By CASEY GROVE casey.grove@adn.com
Published: March 11th, 2011 12:12 PM
Last Modified: March 11th, 2011 12:13 PM
Anchorage Daily News

Five people in the Fairbanks area were arrested Thursday by state and federal law enforcement on charges connected with an alleged plot to kidnap or kill state troopers and a Fairbanks judge, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

Francis "Schaeffer" Cox, Lonnie Vernon, Karen Vernon, Coleman Barney and Michael Anderson are accused of conspiring to commit murder, kidnapping, and arson, as well as weapons misconduct, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence, according to trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters in a written statement late Thursday.

U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler said Lonnie Vernon, 55, was arrested for threatening to kill a federal judge. She said more information about federal charges would be released today Fairbanks Police Chief Loren Zager said the operation involved multiple police actions related to Fairbanks-area members of the "sovereign citizen" movement.

The sovereign citizen movement is characterized by a rejection of U.S. laws and taxes. In general, participants believe that federal, state and local statutes and laws do not apply to them.

Cox, a vocal proponent of Americans' right to bear arms, had earlier vowed to defy what he described as an illegitimate and overbearing government.

Palin isn't that far away from these nuts. From the LA Times:

Over the years, Palin has actively courted the Alaska Independence Party, or AIP, an organization that supports Alaskan secession from the U.S. To be clear, we're not necessarily talking about friendly secession either: As the AIP's founder, Joe Vogler, told an interviewer in 1991: "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. ... And I won't be buried under their damn flag."

UPDATE: Alex Seitz-Wald at Think Progress discovered that the current GOP House member from Alaska hearts Cox & his crazies:

Alaska Republican congressman Don Young has signed an insurrectionist pledge written by Alaska militia organizer Schaeffer Cox that advocated for opposing our government in response to gun control laws.