Militias’ Ties to Public Safety Officials Feared

In a secret meeting at the Veterans Park in Clarksburg, W. Va., Floyd Raymond Looker, commanding general of the West Virginia Mountaineer Militia, was putting the squeeze on one of his top recruits.

In Looker’s eyes, James R. Rogers held a special cachet because his role as a supervisor for the Clarksburg Fire Department gave him access to the design plans for the new FBI fingerprint center in the small town, according to court documents.

Looker wanted the plans, federal prosecutors allege, because he wanted to blow up the facility in a strike not only against the federal government but also at all 2,600 government employees who soon would be working there.

Rogers eventually agreed to hand over photographs of the blueprints, prosecutors said, and on Friday, he and Looker were arrested along with five other men connected with the militia. They are charged with plotting to destroy the FBI facility and two other government buildings, and are expected to plead not guilty to the charges this week.

Federal law enforcement officials said Saturday that their investigation is continuing as they try to determine whether others were involved in the alleged conspiracy.

Although authorities believe that they have driven a stake through the heart of this alleged plot, they are troubled by its larger implications, specifically by the suspected role of a public safety official--Rogers--whose alleged involvement illustrates a recent trend in the militia movement in America: With growing frequency, local police officers, sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and active-duty military personnel are joining the ranks of state militias, according to those who monitor the groups.

“If the FBI thinks there is a revolution going on in the militias, they have no idea what is happening among the soldiers and the police,” said Jack McLamb, a former Phoenix police officer who is now a major figure in the anti-government movement.

Their recruitment presents a special problem to federal law enforcement agencies. It puts them at the unique disadvantage of not knowing how much classified security information is making its way into the hands of far-right extremists bent on destroying the government.

Sometimes it is hard for legitimate police officers to tell who is the Judas among them.

Brian Levin, a former New York City police officer who now studies the hate groups as an assistant professor at Richard Stockton College in Pomona, N.J., said Saturday that militias recruit public safety officers for a number of reasons.

He noted that police officers have access to federal crime information computers, are briefed on upcoming raids and often are deeply involved in joint local-state-federal law enforcement operations. For many militia leaders, that kind of access can be pivotal.

“They want them because of their utility,” Levin said. “The more information they can have, the better. Law enforcement information would be of use as a utility for them. But there is also the ideology. They view law enforcement as a very solid potential enemy or a very helpful potential friend.”

Law enforcement officials cannot legally discourage local public safety workers from joining militias, but authorities at the local, state and federal levels conduct undercover operations and internal reviews to determine when those links might become dangerous.

At the same time, the Pentagon has undertaken several reviews this year to assess how many members of the armed services are joining anti-government and other hate groups.

Experts point out that police officers, firefighters, soldiers and sailors are predominantly white males who often are frustrated at their work, feeling restricted in their powers and believing that the public does not fully appreciate their sacrifices.

The local cop might believe that the courts are too lenient with the people he arrests. The local firefighter might think that federal laws are too restrictive on public lands. The soldier might be opposed to increased efforts at gun control.

“They see the system as letting them down,” Levin said.

Just two weeks before the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995, the FBI sent out a warning about local police officers joining the ranks of anti-government militias. In a communication from its FBI field office in Dallas, authorities advised all of their “intelligence bureaus and tactical commanders” that many militia leaders were receiving comfort and advice from local police. The memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, recommended that FBI agents be extremely careful in conducting searches and other operations “on known militia members.”

The memo said agents “should note that the FBI has received information, corroborated by investigation, which indicated that law enforcement officers are also involved with militia groups.”

McLamb is the biggest promoter of police officers joining militias. A frequent speaker at paramilitary expositions, McLamb boasts that more than 6,000 police officers and soldiers belong to his group. The organization encourages police officers to become involved in his “Vampire Killer 2000” movement, which calls for a “police action plan for stopping world government rule.”

John Parsons, a leader in the South Dakota militia movement, said it is natural for local public safety officers to embrace the rigorous lifestyles of members of paramilitary groups.

“They call us,” he said. “We’re on radio talk shows and people listen or they hear about us through the grapevine. And when they call, we send them information packets. We network.”

In the Southwest, Ray Smith, head of the 1st Texas Rangers militia, said the reason it is not commonly known that local officials join their ranks is because the officials cannot afford the publicity.

“It’s their job or their family or something personal, and they don’t want a lot of people to know what they believe in,” he said. “I’m talking about military and a lot of police officers who don’t want it coming out about them.

“It’s not politically correct. They’d get fired or blackballed.”

In the West Virginia case, prosecutors charged that Looker methodically turned Rogers around to his way of thinking, helping him evolve from a fellow weekend warrior to someone eager to provide intricate information for the alleged conspiracy.

While Rogers was at first “visibly shaken” about the bomb plan, he later eagerly advised Looker concerning the building’s plumbing, electrical and mechanical schematics and eventually turned over 35 photographs of the building’s blueprints, prosecutors said in court documents.

The blueprints were to have been used only by firefighters in the event of an emergency.

In the end, prosecutors said, Rogers was not hiding his zeal against the federal government.

According to court affidavits: “Rogers indicated that he was convinced that a portion of the FBI facility may be the new command center for members of the U.S. government when the ‘New World Order’ begins its move to take over the United States.”