Anti-Government ‘Prophet’ Is Among 4 Accused in Bomb Plot

An anti-government “prophet” and three others were charged Monday with plotting a series of bombings against such targets as abortion clinics, welfare offices, gay bars and civil rights organizations.

Willie Ray Lampley, 65, his wife, Cecilia Lampley, 47, and John Dare Baird, 53, appeared in federal court, their hands and feet shackled, and were ordered held without bail until a hearing Thursday.

The three, arrested by FBI agents Saturday at the Lampleys’ home in Vernon, are charged with conspiracy to manufacture and possess a bomb.

Larry Wayne Crow of New Mexico also was charged in the complaint but was not immediately arrested. His hometown was not disclosed.

The case is not connected to the April 19 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, authorities said. The complaint alleges that the defendants planned to target offices of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith in Houston and the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., among others.

Lampley, a self-proclaimed prophet who opposes the government, declined a court-appointed attorney at the hearing. Asked who represented him, he said: “Jesus Christ.”

The federal complaint says Lampley and Crow suggested at an August meeting of the Tri-States Militia in Gregory County, S.D., that five buildings be blown up.

In October, the complaint said, Lampley and his wife discussed more targets and added abortion clinics, welfare offices and gay bars to the list.

The complaint said Lampley was visited at his home in October by Crow and another man from New Mexico. They brought him a book on making bombs.

It also outlines a series of purchases earlier this month of materials that could be used in a bomb, including ammonium nitrate fertilizer and nitro methane. Lampley allegedly planned to use an electric filament from a toaster as the timing device.

Lampley allegedly tried to build a bomb Friday. McIntosh County Sheriff Bobby Gray said the FBI recovered bomb-making materials from a back room in the Lampleys’ house but apparently did not find an assembled bomb.