Council Panel Urges $1-Million Settlement of Defamation Suit

Acting on the advice of Los Angeles city attorneys, a key City Council panel voted Tuesday to approve a $1.1-million settlement of a federal defamation suit filed by four men accused by the police of belonging to a terrorist militia group, plotting to massacre illegal immigrants and possessing illegal weapons.

According to the city attorney’s office, the city risks paying the men and two of their spouses, who also are plaintiffs, as much as $5 million if it allows the suit to go to trial and loses.

Prosecutors and police commanders initially alleged that the men, among them a reserve police officer, had undergone months of weapons training and planned to take hostages along the border and conduct other paramilitary operations. When they were arrested in May 1997, the LAPD held a news conference in which the suspects were described as “a threat to Southern California” by Cmdr. Tim McBride.

Further, LAPD officials said the men were planning multiple acts of terrorism and that they had enough weapons and ammunition to wage a small-scale war.

But their attorneys said the suspects, five of whom were arrested but four of whom quickly posted bail, were simply part of an informal group of gun enthusiasts, not militia members.

Each of the four who sued was charged with possessing illegal weapons; one, Glenn Yee of San Dimas, is serving an 18-month sentence in state prison. Alvin Ung of Ontario is awaiting trial in San Bernardino and Mark Grand and Timothy Swanson, both of Los Angeles, are being charged with misdemeanor gun possession offenses. A fifth suspect, Raymond Durand of Valencia, was charged with one count of sale of a banned assault rifle; he is not part of the federal case.

The men and two of their spouses sued the city in federal court for defamation and civil rights violations; the case is pending.

But in a closed City Council session Tuesday, city attorneys recommended that the council’s Budget and Finance Committee approve the $1.1-million settlement “in the best economic interests of the city” to avoid a loss in court, City Hall sources said. The full council is expected to review and vote on the settlement in closed session today.

“What else can we do?” said one lawmaker, shrugging.

Los Angeles Police Department officials, who declined to speak publicly on the case, said the defamation case stemmed from the comments made by commanders and others during the news conference and in the days after the arrests. They said the anti-terrorist division, which conducted the lengthy investigation, did nothing wrong but that the comments to the press were speculative and went beyond the charges filed against the men.

Police said they were pleased, however, that the group faced gun charges, even though prosecutors never brought conspiracy or terrorism charges against them.

“We thought it was best to get them on gun charges . . . and get them off the streets,” said one police source close to the anti-terrorist division.

Further, some police questioned the city attorney’s recommendation to settle the suit. “I think any amount of money is too much,” said a police official close to the case.

Michael Stoller, a Beverly Hills attorney who represents the four men in their federal case, declined to discuss any elements of the settlement, citing the confidentiality of the talks.

But others involved accused police of bungling a case and then aggressively pursuing the only charges they could get: relatively minor weapons possessions.

“I think the citizens of Los Angeles ought to be asking what the hell is going on here,” said one. “The LAPD said things to justify what they did. . . . It’s domestic spying.”

Attorneys have said Yee, an Irwindale reserve officer, led an informal, multiracial group that even included some LAPD officers. The group went shooting together, mostly on public ranges, including one in the Angeles National Forest. The lawyers agreed that some of the members had illegal weapons, but said they never planned to use them in terrorist acts. They also noted that the men charged in the cases have no prior arrest records.

Capt. Joseph Curreri, who headed the anti-terrorist division during the investigation, said terrorists often have no history of arrests.

“A real good terrorist . . . should act like you or me and slink into the environment,” Curreri said.

LAPD officials continued to defend the investigation Tuesday, saying they confiscated more than 100 weapons, thousands of rounds of ammunition and a grenade launcher at the suspects’ homes.

A police spokesman once described the men as “filled with hate” and another said lives and property were saved with the arrests.

Asked Tuesday if that still seemed true, a police source said: “I believe they had the potential, yes.”