Racist Who Allegedly Threatened Obama Faces Gun Charges
A detention hearing will be held Monday for a self-described racist from Virginia who allegedly made threats against President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder before illegally taking possession of a machine gun.
Douglas Howard Story, 48, of Manassas, Va., was arrested Wednesday by the FBI in a shopping mall parking lot, after taking delivery of a semi-automatic AK-47 assault rifle that he had paid $125 to have converted to fully automatic, officials said.
At the detention hearing in Alexandria, Va., federal prosecutors are expected to argue that Story poses either a flight risk or a danger to the public, or both, and that he be detained in custody until his federal trial in the Eastern District of Virginia.聽 He has worked for the Virginia Department of Transportation and lived in Virginia for several years, according to court documents.
Story, who was active on several white nationalist websites including , , and New Saxon, has a long history of vocal racism.
He made national news in April 2010 when a photo of his pickup truck, its rear window plastered with a full-color sticker featuring a photo of the Twin Towers in flames and the slogan, 鈥淓verything I ever needed to know about Islam I learned on 9/11,鈥� went viral, and viewers noticed that his custom license plate read 鈥�14CV88.鈥� Fourteen and 88 are potent numbers on the racist right 鈥� the first a reference to deceased terrorist 14-word slogan, 鈥淲e must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children鈥�; the second a code for 鈥淗.H.,鈥� or 鈥淗eil Hitler鈥� (H is the 8th letter in the alphabet).
Despite Story鈥檚 protest that the numbers were references to his favorite NASCAR drivers and that 鈥淸T]here is absolutely no way I鈥檇 have anything to do with Hitler or Nazis,鈥� the Virginia DMV recalled the custom plates. Reportedly, Story鈥檚 boss at the Virginia Department of Transportation forbade him park in the lot with the anti-Muslim sticker on his rear window.
In a November 2008 comment on Stormfront, where he posted as 鈥淐onfederado,鈥� Story describing his AK-47 as a potential 鈥渉omeland defense rifle should I need to protect micelf [sic] and my wife from rioting neeegroes [sic].鈥� The same month, he described the president as 鈥渂rown-filth mulatto,鈥� and wrote, 鈥淣ow I鈥檓 not advocating violence against him, I鈥檓 just saying there are White folks out there that are none to [sic] happy with his 鈥榚lection.鈥�
Though his work at the Virginia DOT required him to assist stranded drivers, the Anti-Defamation League reports that Story in 2007 wrote on a white nationalist website that, 鈥渋f I see an accident involving a negro or other kind of brown filth, I just drive on by. Screw 鈥榚m, let 鈥榚m die.鈥�
The FBI opened its weapons investigation last August after learning Story was posting comments on an Aryan Nations Web site and asking about how to convert a semi-automatic assault rifle to a fully automatic machine gun, court documents say. As the investigation unfolded, an FBI informant engaged Story in various conversations on white supremacy websites. According to an affidavit, 鈥淭he conversations and posts were reported to the case agent and show the propensity for hatred and violence toward African Americans, Jewish Americans, other minorities and a number of political figures.鈥�
The affidavit also quotes Story as having written, 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 one way Obummer would be proven as a mere mortal 鈥� if someone puts a 30.06 round into the base of his skill [sic], huh ya think?鈥� In a post referring to the attorney general, Story predicted, 鈥淗older will likely be removed when the administration changes in 2012. Although, personally, I鈥檇 prefer removing him from office with a 30.06.鈥�
In a later E-mail, court documents say, Story also boasted 鈥渢hat he was planning on ambushing and murdering any law enforcement officer that stops him on the street if and when martial law is enacted in the United States.鈥�
The informant told the FBI 鈥渢hat Story believed martial law would be declared under various scenarios to include President Obama being assassinated.鈥�
In March meeting, Story asked the FBI informant if he could help modify Story鈥檚 AK-47 鈥渇rom semi-automatic to fully automatic.鈥� The informant later introduced Story to 鈥淩icky鈥� who claimed to have been an armorer in the U.S. Marine Corps and could easily modify the weapon. In the conversations that were secretly recorded by the FBI, Story acknowledged knowing that possessing a fully automatic weapon that wasn鈥檛 federally registered was illegal.
After a number of follow-up discussions, Story met with 鈥淩icky鈥� and the FBI informant on May 9 in Chantilly, Va., and turned over his AK-47 and $125 cash to have it converted to full automatic, the affidavit says.
The FBI modified the weapon to full automatic and 鈥淩icky鈥� delivered it to Story on Wednesday in the Bull Run Shopping Plaza in Manassas. Story was arrested as he walked across the parking lot with his newly modified machine gun.
