Police Continue Siege at Extremist Camp

Camouflaged police officers trod warily Sunday for fear of setting off booby traps or mines as they besieged for a third day the hide-out of an extremist religious group whose leader is wanted on a weapons charge.

Federal officials were continuing to negotiate with the group--known as the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord--for the surrender of leader Jim Ellison and hoped the standoff would not erupt into violence, said FBI agent Ray McElhaney.

Another right-wing extremist, who was arrested Saturday night in connection with the shooting death of a Missouri state trooper, was held without bond in a Springfield, Mo., jail Sunday.

Crowd Cheers Arrest

David C. Tate was transferred to Springfield from Forsyth, where 200 persons cheered upon hearing of his arrest.

Meanwhile, inside the remote, 224-acre compound deep in the Ozarks on the Arkansas-Missouri border, members of the extremist group moved into a barbed-wire enclosure, authorities said.

“We are talking about people who have announced they are well armed,” McElhaney said. “There is good reason to believe there are explosives, mines and assault weapons on the premises, and the people that occupy the compound have adequate training in using them.”

Federal and state lawmen converged on the encampment Friday to arrest Ellison, 44, who faces a federal charge of conspiracy to manufacture restricted weapons--automatic guns. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

In an attempt to flush him out of the compound Saturday, officers took over two unoccupied clusters of buildings.

Four women and 12 children had voluntarily left the compound, McElhaney said.

Police had wanted to search the compound as part of the massive manhunt for Tate of Athol, Ida., a member of the neo-Nazi group The Order, accused in the slaying of Trooper Jimmie L. Linegar, 31, last Monday. Another trooper, Allen Hines, 36, was wounded.

However, Tate, 22, who Covenant members said had visited the compound two years ago, was arrested unarmed late Saturday in Forsyth, said Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Lee Thompson.

He was transferred from the Taney County Jail in Forsyth to the Greene County Jail in Springfield, 30 miles to the north, Saturday night, officials said. He was placed in a maximum security cell where authorities could check him every 15 minutes.

Tate was arraigned in Taney County on charges of murder, first-degree assault, federal charges of unlawful possession of a machine gun and violation of anti-racketeering laws, said Lt. Ralph Biele of the highway patrol. When Tate was brought to the courthouse in Forsyth, some in the crowd outside yelled, “Kill him, kill him.”