Clarion County Man "not a terrorist" wife says

[bloomautomatic]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/trib.../s_579637.html

If this has already been posted, please delete or ignore it.

Morgan Jones once built a tank out of scrap metal and drove it to church.

During annual potluck parties at his backwoods Clarion County home, he often wowed guests with his homemade flamethrower.

And sometimes, just for fun, he'd entertain friends by shooting an electrical charge through his body to light a bulb.

His wife, Donna, says he's a little eccentric.

"I never thought it was illegal to be eccentric," she said. "He's a good man. He's not a terrorist or a domestic threat."

Agents from the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force thought otherwise when they arrested Jones last month as he left Sunday Mass in the sleepy hamlet of Lucinda.

Jones, 64, was charged with selling a Romanian AK-47 assault rifle to an undercover agent posing as an Ohio resident.

Later, when agents headed down a bumpy, macadam road to Jones' modular home, they found an array of homemade weapons, a cannon, drums of explosive chemicals and a depleted uranium shell. The military often uses uranium shells because they penetrate tank armor.

But prosecutors say that's just part of Morgan Jones' story, which is playing out in a remote area of the state where hunting and fishing reign supreme, and mining and logging put food on a lot of dinner tables.

Officials allege Jones is a major player in a militia movement whose shadowy members have a "propensity toward violence" against the government, elected officials, judges and law enforcement.

Experts believe that after more than a decade of declining membership, these militias are on the upswing in pockets throughout the nation, including rural areas of Pennsylvania.

There are 888 militia and extremist groups operating in the United States, including 33 in Pennsylvania, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama. That reflects a 48 percent increase nationwide since 2000.

Court records indicate Jones is captain of the 91st Warriors Militia, named for the 91st Psalm, which asks for protection for soldiers in battle.

A judge ordered Jones to remain jailed pending his trial because prosecutors claim he is a danger to the community.

The three-year federal probe has resulted in the arrests of three other Western Pennsylvania men who prosecutors say are militia operatives.

Marvin Hall, 49, of Rimersburg in Clarion County, and Clearfield County residents Bradley Kahle, 60, of Troutville and Perry Landis, 61, of DuBois were picked up by agents last month. Prosecutors say they are members of the 91st Warrior Militia and the Brookville Tigers in neighboring Jefferson County.

They face weapons charges after raids on their homes and remain jailed.

Jones and Kahle do not have prior records. Hall served two years in a federal prison on a weapons violation. Landis' only brush with the law was in 2006 when he failed to have a license for his dog or a valid inspection sticker on his vehicle.

A low profile

These groups aren't functioning like the militias of the 1990s, said Shari Kochman of the Anti-Defamation League in Cleveland, which monitors militia activity in Western Pennsylvania.

Back then, militias were higher-profile groups engaged in public confrontations with law enforcement officials, Kochman said.

Oklahoma City Federal Building bomber Timothy McVeigh was linked to a militia. The siege and eventual destruction of David Koresh and the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas, was tied to militia activity.

Experts say militias started to lose steam in the 1990s after a series of high-profile arrests. Other members lost faith when predictions of chaos tied to the millennium did not ring true.

Today, experts say militias are rebounding in the post-Sept. 11 attacks era because of fears of tighter government controls.

Kochman said although today's militias operate more inconspicuously, they maintain the same basic, anti-government doctrines.

"It's an obsession" she said.

Their numbers are growing.

"We're definitely seeing an increase, an uptick in criminal activity, after a couple of years where there wasn't very much at all. This is militia 2.0," said Mark Pitcavage, a nationally known militia historian.

The tape recordings

Justice Department rules prevent federal prosecutors and agents from commenting on investigations, but during court proceedings they offered insight into the militias' alleged activities.

In one taped conversation, Jones extolled the virtues of an AK-47 rifle he was selling to the undercover officer.

"It's a longer barrel and a longer range job," Jones said. "It's more like a sniper gun. You can launch grenades with it."

In another conversation, he chatted about the availability of ammonium nitrate that can be used in a bomb similar to the one used in the Oklahoma City attack.

"You can't find ammonium nitrate," Jones said. "I'll tell you a top secret. Cold packs contain ammonium nitrate. I have cases and cases of cold packs all over Clarion County."

On another tape, Landis talks about wanting to "plink" Gov. Ed Rendell.

Agents found what they described as a suicide belt at Landis' home containing homemade "grenades" made from over-the-counter medicine containers packed with small ball bearings and explosives.

Kahle is heard on the tapes describing how to make an improvised explosive device using an empty bean can, a powerful firecracker, pellets, wax and a fuse. He boasted that if a SWAT team was trying to arrest him, "I would be tough to take."

Pitcavage said these groups communicate, organize and recruit members through the Internet.

One Web site, www.awrm.org -- which stands for A Well Regulated Militia -- is popular among militia members, survivalists and hate groups, he said.

Participants, with screen names such as SGTBloodLoss, GunnFixr, Sniper and CatDaddyJack, can share information about ideology, weapons, training, equipment, recruitment and organizing militia units.

"A lot of militia people are now networking on MySpace," Pitcavage said.

Family, friends rally

Jones' friends and family quickly rallied to his support after his arrest.

A used car dealer in nearby Shippenville spelled it out on a large sign: "Free Morgie, he's no terrorist."

Candys Pfendler of Shippenville, whose son is married to Jones' daughter, said she's known Jones for 38 years.

"We're eating birthday cake the night before, doing family activities, and then to hear he's a threat," Pfendler said. "It's destroyed the whole family."

Some portray Jones as a man who simply loves to tinker.

"He's a genius," said Ken Burkett, executive director of the Jefferson County Historical Society.

Donna Jones said her husband attended St. Vincent College near Latrobe for a year before transferring to Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where he earned degrees in physics and chemistry. He worked briefly as a high school teacher, and before his arrest repaired mufflers for a living in his backyard and sold used cars. His wife said he didn't like teaching but enjoys working with his hands.

'Not even a whiff'

Pitcavage said local residents tend to downplay the existence of militias in their backyards.

Many residents in Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion counties say they've never heard of the militias.

"I've never had a case in my term as DA with anyone purporting to be or claiming to be members of these militias," said Clarion County District Attorney Mark Aaron. "If there's renewed activity, I haven't seen it."

Randy Bartley, editor of the Jeffersonian Democrat in Jefferson County, said that in the 1990s when the Ku Klux Klan was undergoing a revival, he knew every member. Yet he doesn't know one member of the Brookville Tigers Militia.

Law enforcement officials believe the organization has about 200 members.

"This doesn't smell right," Bartley said. "There hasn't been a peep; not even a whiff of this stuff."

A lonely man

Defendant Marvin Hall's sister, Joyce Mineweaser, said her brother never discussed being a member of a militia.

She describes her brother as a lonely man who drinks too much and is bipolar.

She doubts he is guilty.

"On Sept. 11, 2001, he sat on the couch and cried. He said, 'How could anybody kill that many people?' Does that sound like a terrorist?" she said.

Richard Gazarik can be reached at rgazarik@tribweb.com or 724-830-6292.

[Longshot]

And who said the Patriot act wouldn't do any good.........

[Damage control]

"I'll tell you a top secret. Cold packs contain ammonium nitrate.

Posting this in a news article was just genius.


DC

[sluggie24]

So how long does everyone think it will take till they brand THIS site and everyone on it militia? God forbid one of us ever voices an idea or opinion that is in opposition of our government's viewpoint.

What bothers me is the governments ability to have bail removed and keep a person in jail indeffinately because they "claim" the person is a danger to the public that he has been living with for how long and has not hurt to this point.


I am predicting that this situation will be repeated more and more in the next few months. Something stinks in this country and it ain't the seafood.

Tinfoil hat on............

[jon'76]

The man did nothing wrong except enjoy his life in his own way. I have no problem with him blowing up junk in his backyard so long as he is careful not to put his neighbors at risk. With degrees in chemistry and physics if he was really a threat he could have made much better explosives and devices; he was just a guy that liked making his own fireworks.

How many of you can honestly say you never blew anything up as a kid? The overwhelming support of the townspeople and family also indicates that he was far from dangerous. I hope the bastards that are trying to prosecute him all get struck by lightening....twice

[w1cked]

When will these idiots deal with *real* terrorists instead of someone having a little fun? Pass me a spare hat skuggie...

[shooter357]

On another tape, Landis talks about wanting to "plink" Gov. Ed Rendell.

Who hasn't. That guy has been pissing off people for years.

[clarion44]

Militias in Clarion County??? I never saw any "activity" during my time at the "college on the hill." Just another guy who lives in rural PA and likes to have fun while not hurting himself or others. Guess he'll have to see how this plays out.

[mjfletcher]

Originally Posted by jon'76

The man did nothing wrong except enjoy his life in his own way. I have no problem with him blowing up junk in his backyard so long as he is careful not to put his neighbors at risk. With degrees in chemistry and physics if he was really a threat he could have made much better explosives and devices; he was just a guy that liked making his own fireworks.

How many of you can honestly say you never blew anything up as a kid? The overwhelming support of the townspeople and family also indicates that he was far from dangerous. I hope the bastards that are trying to prosecute him all get struck by lightening....twice

No no no no no... The support of the townspeople and family proves that they're all members of the militia trying to overthrow the government and have secret stashes of his "made from the radium in watches" nuclear explosives buried in their backyards and furthermore....

[grunts and scuffling sounds from offstage]

Whoa, sorry bout that. My tinfoil hat slipped off for a sec, but its all good now, my cats fixed it. Can't believe i let that happen, how humiliating.

You're right though, that kind of support from the community pretty much says everything that needs to be said. Hes an overgrown teenager who likes to see junk blow up, nothing more, and hell, how many of us wouldn't blow junk up if we had the space to do it safely?

[Lycanthrope]

LOL. True story......

Back in the late 80's I knew this guy. Everyone called him "Morgie". Went to his house once and he was a substitute chemistry teacher at my high school.

He IS a genius. Built his own Tesla Coil in his barn..(not some dinky thing....we're talking Bul Science Center size)...the upstairs of which was filled with vintage pinball machines and all sorts of other neat stuff. If it's all still there, he has a ton of antique stuff worth a ton of money. The man tinkered with everything and, yeah, I wager he tinkered with guns in a way that was less than legal......but....I'd never peg him for a terrorist.

Just a country boy havin' fun I bet.

Lycannokiddingthrope