Thursday, June 05, 2003

Another right-wing terrorist?

Here's a decidedly unnerving story that underscores, once again, the potent threat of "lone wolf" terrorists of both the radical Islamist variety and the American right-wing variant. From the Associated Press:

Bomb plot suspected in LA stashes of weapons, ammo, jet fuel
MONTEREY PARK, Calif. - A man now in prison for vehicle theft is believed to have been planning a significant attack on a building or people, say authorities who uncovered an arsenal of semiautomatic assault weapons, ammunition, pipe bombs and barrels of jet fuel.

There have been no charges filed involving the materials but the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is investigating, authorities told a news conference at Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department headquarters here Wednesday.

The man, John Noster, 38, has refused to talk to investigators, sheriff's Sgt. John Demooy said.

"He was definitely planning on targeting a structure, location, individuals, and would have created significant damage," Demooy said.

Authorities, however, have not been able to identify the target.

Note that Noster was a "white collar professional" who was far from the stereotype of the uneducated camo-geared beer-bellied militiaman. Also, there's this:
Investigators also found a list of apparent titles including "None Dare Call it Conspiracy," "The CFR," "The Invisible Government," "Secrets of the Federal Reserve" and "Shadows of Power." Books by those names allege a worldwide socialist conspiracy of bankers, government leaders and others.

It is, once again, fortunate that good luck and smart work by law enforcement caught this guy before he could carry out his attack. There have been other similar cases. Two spring immediately to mind: the arrest of Bradley Glover and his gang, for instance, before they could pull off their plan to attack a military base (they were en route and had some serious materiel); the arrest of the militiamen who were planning to blow up a propane facility in northern California, with potentially catastrophic results.

Of course, those cases didn't exactly make the evening news, either.

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