Accused Alaska Militia Leader Boasted of Rockets, Bombs, Cavalry
Alaska militia leader Francis Schaeffer Cox discussed 鈥渙verthrowing the federal government by violent means鈥� after establishing a common law court system and recruiting a 3,500-member militia, new court documents disclose.
鈥淚t is not a rag-tag deal,鈥� Cox boasted of his Alaska Peacemakers Militia, claiming it has a medical unit, with doctors and surgeons, and engineers 鈥渢hat make GPS jammers, cell phone jammers, bombs and all sorts of nifty stuff.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e got airplanes with laser-acquisition stuff and we鈥檝e got rocket 鈥� and grenade launchers and claymores and machine guns and cavalry and we鈥檝e got boats,鈥� Cox said in a speech secretly recorded by the FBI.聽 鈥淚t鈥檚 all set.鈥�
Cox, who calls himself a sovereign citizen, gave the speech in 2009 in Montana, a state that continues as a hotbed of antigovernment extremist activity.
What鈥檚 not known is how much of Cox鈥檚 speech was fantasy and how much was fact.
What is known is that he left Montana for Alaska, where he was arrested in March on charges of being at the center of a militia plot to kill Alaska state troopers and a federal judge, along with amassing an arsenal of legal and illegal firearms.
The 27-year-old antigovernment activist remains in jail in Alaska, facing trial on federal charges for possessing inert hand grenades, a fully automatic machine gun and riot-control gear including tears gas and rubber-bullet grenades.
As his attorneys prepare his defense, the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office is turning over various FBI reports and documents detailing how agents were monitoring Cox鈥檚 activities, beginning as early as 2009, when he was organizing anti-government activities in western Montana. Those documents, filed under seal, include transcripts of various speeches Cox delivered.
The FBI and the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office are 鈥渁ware of the line between First Amendment protected speech and conduct which is actionable,鈥� according to a public court document filed last week in U.S. District Court in Anchorage.
In a speech delivered in Montana in 2009, Cox claims he and his followers
have developed their own court system 鈥� a 鈥渃ommon law court鈥� designed to replace the existing court system.
The location where Cox made the speech isn鈥檛 provided in the court document, but it鈥檚 thought to have occurred in either Flathead, Lincoln or Ravalli counties in western Montana, where Cox spent much of his time.
During that speech, Cox was asked what the common law court system would do in the case of capital crime, including murder.
It would be up to the victim or the victim鈥檚 family, Cox responded, to decide if they wanted to kill the offender or use him or her as a slave. 鈥淭hat person is owned by the person they violated, and they can sell him or they can kill him,鈥� Cox said,聽 鈥渁nd these concepts are right out of the Old Testament.鈥�
Earlier, the court document says, Cox explained that his common law court system was up and running, 鈥渄ealing with a lot of contract disputes, petty crimes, uh, that kind of thing.鈥�
Cox claimed the local, elected prosecutor 鈥渋s just letting us deal with that, just letting us have it, and not messing with us. He comes to our meetings sometimes.聽 Sometimes he鈥檚 a heckler, but he鈥檚 giving us our space.鈥�
Flathead County Prosecutor Ed Corrigan, reached for comment by Hatewatch, said he had never heard of Cox.
鈥淚 can assure you, even if he was here in Flathead County, I can鈥檛 recall hearing about him and I certainly didn鈥檛 have any dealings with him,鈥� Corrigan said. 鈥淚t sounds to me like he鈥檚 just lying right out his ass.鈥�
Likewise, Bernard Cassidy, the prosecuting attorney in neighboring Lincoln County, Mont., said he, too, wasn鈥檛 familiar with Cox.
鈥淚 doubt the truth of that,鈥� Cassidy said when asked about Cox鈥檚 claim that a prosecutor in Montana attended common law court sessions.
Bill Fulbright, the prosecutor in Ravalli County, couldn鈥檛 be reached for comment.
