Timothy McVeigh
---
the results prove that the FBI should have been investigating minority
gangs instead
On Apr 19, 4:42 am, Bruce Majors <majors.br...@gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------
>
> Patriot Games: How the FBI spent a decade hunting white supremacists and
>
> missed Timothy McVeigh.
>
> BY J.M. BERGER | APRIL 18, 2012
>
> http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/04/18/patriot_games?print=...
>
> In 1990, the FBI began picking up on rumors about an effort to reconstitute
>
> a notorious terrorist-criminal gang known as The Order.
>
> The group's name was taken from the infamous racist 1978 novel The Turner
>
> Diaries, which told the story of a fictional cabal carrying out acts of
>
> terrorism and eventually overthrowing the U.S. government in a bloody,
>
> nihilistic racial purge. The book was an inspiration to a generation of
>
> white nationalists, including Timothy McVeigh, whose path to radicalization
>
> climaxed in the Oklahoma City bombing 17 years ago Thursday.
>
> During the 1980s, extremists inspired by the book began robbing banks and
>
> armored cars, stealing and counterfeiting millions of dollars and
>
> distributing some of the money to racist extremist causes. Members of The
>
> Order assassinated Jewish talk radio host Alan Berg in 1984, before most of
>
> its members were arrested and its leader killed in a standoff. Less than 10
>
> percent of the money stolen by The Order was ever recovered, and
>
> investigators feared members of the group who were still at large would use
>
> it to further a campaign of terrorism.
>
> To prevent the rise of a "Second Order," FBI undercover agents would become
>
> it.
>
> Starting in April 1991, three FBI agents posed as members of an invented
>
> racist militia group called the Veterans Aryan Movement. According to their
>
> cover story, VAM members robbed armored cars, using the proceeds to buy
>
> weapons and support racist extremism. The lead agent was a Vietnam veteran
>
> with a background in narcotics, using the alias Dave Rossi.
>
> Code-named PATCON, for "Patriot-conspiracy," the investigation would last
>
> more than two years, crossing state and organizational lines in search of
>
> intelligence on the so-called Patriot movement, the label applied to a
>
> wildly diverse collection of racist, ultra-libertarian, right-wing and/or
>
> pro-gun activists and extremists who, over the years, have found common
>
> cause in their suspicion and fear of the federal government.
>
> The undercover agents met some of the most infamous names in the movement,
>
> but their work never led to a single arrest. When McVeigh walked through the
>
> middle of the investigation in 1993, he went unnoticed.
>
> PATCON is history, but it holds lessons for today. Since the attacks of
>
> Sept. 11, 2001, a series of arrests for homegrown terrorism has put a
>
> spotlight on the secretive world of government infiltration, especially in
>
> the Muslim community. Some critics have charged that these investigations,
>
> in which suspected jihadists are provided with the means and encouragement
>
> to carry out terrorist attacks before being arrested, constitute entrapment
>
> and set plots in motion that would never have emerged on their own. But
>
> these controversial tactics were around long before the FBI was restructured
>
> to prioritize terrorism. And Muslims aren't the only targets.
>
> Most undercover operations remain secret, especially if they do not result
>
> in prosecutions. PATCON stayed under wraps for nearly 15 years, until it was
>
> discovered in Freedom of Information Act requests by the author. The account
>
> that follows is based on thousands of pages of FBI records on PATCON and the
>
> groups it targeted, as well as interviews with FBI agents who worked on the
>
> case, former FBI informants, and members of the targeted groups. The
>
> documents and interviews reveal important lessons for the modern use of
>
> undercover agents and informants.
>
> PATCON had its origins in the investigation of Louis Beam, an infamous
>
> racial ideologue with connections to the original Order. In 1987, the
>
> government prosecuted him for sedition in connection with the group's
>
> activities, but he was acquitted and subsequently moved to the Austin,
>
> Texas, area.
>
> The FBI was keenly interested in Beam's activities and his associates. In
>
> 1990, agents in Texas opened an investigation into his activities within the
>
> "Texas Light Infantry" (TLI). With branches throughout the Lone Star state,
>
> the TLI was a paramilitary militia that styled itself as an emergency backup
>
> for the Texas State Guard. Although the case file expansively included the
>
> whole organization -- most of which was not racist in nature --
>
> investigators were primarily interested in a handful of Austin-area members
>
> and associates tied to Beam.
>
> Initially, the FBI targeted the TLI using an informant named Vince Reed, a
>
> Vietnam veteran who had successfully infiltrated the Hell's Angels on an
>
> earlier assignment. An undercover agent worked with Reed, posing as his gun
>
> dealer to strengthen his cover.
>
> Reed reported hearing Beam's TLI friends talk about "The Second Order," a
>
> newly revamped group that would stockpile money and weapons to fight a
>
> revolution against the federal government.
>
> The FBI wanted to know more. To enhance Reed's status and open a new channel
>
> of intelligence, an undercover operation was proposed.
>
> There are two kinds of FBI undercover operations, known as Group I and Group
>
> II UCOs. Group II UCOs are used in relatively informal ways and require less
>
> oversight, but they also receive less funding and administrative support.
>
> Reed's "gun dealer" worked under the Group II heading, since he did not
>
> require substantial backup or extraordinary means to pull off his cover
>
> story.
>
> FBI agents in Austin wanted to enhance the mix with a Group I operation, a
>
> more ambitious undertaking that would be eligible for considerably more
>
> funding and support but had to be predicated on a specific criminal act or
>
> threat and was subject to additional supervision.
>
> FBI records on the TLI offered a plethora of suspected crimes, including the
>
> stockpiling of explosives for an anticipated war against the government. But
>
> in the end, none of the leads on the group resulted in prosecution.
>
> To justify the PATCON operation, the strongest provocation was selected. An
>
> informant, likely Reed, had reported that TLI associates had discussed the
>
> possibility of killing two Austin-based FBI agents. They had done
>
> surveillance and collected information about where the agents lived and
>
> their daily routines.
>
> That threat became the primary criminal predicate for PATCON. But it soon
>
> became clear that the suspects weren't planning to act any time soon,
>
> according to one of the targeted agents. When pressed by FBI sources, the
>
> suspects said the killings would take place only after the U.S. government
>
> had been overthrown.
>
> Within months, the PATCON status reports conceded that the planned
>
> assassinations were "not as imminent as originally feared" and had been
>
> referenced only in "vague fashion" since the operation began. But it was
>
> enough to keep the operation going. A headquarters review said PATCON was
>
> "well focused" and had "not expanded beyond the intent of the
>
> authorization."
>
> The operation's intent, secondary to the threats on paper at least, was to
>
> broadly collect intelligence on the Patriot movement's members and
>
> activities, according to records of the investigation and former FBI agents
>
> who worked on the case.
>
> Three Patriot groups were directly targeted by PATCON -- TLI, an Alabama
>
> organization called Civilian Material Assistance, and the Tennessee-based
>
> American Pistol and Rifle Association.
>
> Half the targeted TLI "members" did not actually belong to the militia,
>
> according to former members and associates of the group. FBI agents said the
>
> targets were selected because of their relationship to Beam, who was seen as
>
> a gateway to the Idaho-based Aryan Nations, one of the nation's largest and
>
> most well-established white nationalist groups.
>
> PATCON operatives rented an Austin-area safe house wired for audio and
>
> video, which they occupied with the informant Vince Reed, hoping to catch
>
> Beam and others saying something incriminating on tape, according to agents
>
> who worked with Reed.
>
> The safe house surveillance didn't produce results, but Reed eventually won
>
> an introduction to Richard Butler, the influential head of the Aryan
>
> Nations, who along with Beam had been associated with The Order. Reed then
>
> relocated to the group's Idaho headquarters and eventually rose to a senior
>
> position in the organization, reporting to the FBI all the while.
>
> PATCON continued its surveillance without him.
>
> The threats the FBI chronicled as emanating from the TLI were not
>
> insignificant. For instance, an FBI lab analysis said that remnants of an
>
> expertly crafted pipe bomb were found during a search at a TLI training
>
> camp. The search for more information was understandable, especially given
>
> the consequences if an act of violence were to take place and it was then
>
> revealed that the bureau could have prevented it.
>
> But lead after lead failed to uncover evidence that would support an
>
> indictment or even indicate that the plots were making any serious progress.
>
> Although the targets of the operation talked continually about forming The
>
> New Order, no one ever provided specific plans or names of those involved,
>
> according to agents working on the case.
>
> "You have talkers and doers out there, and 99 percent of the people are
>
> talkers," said one former Patriot informant. Most of the targets of PATCON
>
> -- even those engaged in frighteningly violent rhetoric -- never moved past
>
> the talking stage.
>
> Eventually, greener pastures beckoned. In February 1992, not quite a year
>
> into the operation, the focus of PATCON shifted. The agent posing as Dave
>
> Rossi arranged an introduction to Thomas Posey, the leader of the Alabama
>
> group, Civilian Material Assistance (CMA).
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