Minnesota Militia Leader Arrested in Military ID Ripoff
The 鈥渃ommander鈥� of an antigovernment Minnesota militia 鈥� a man who was trained in intelligence gathering by the U.S. Army and currently serving in the National Guard 鈥� was arrested yesterday by the FBI on charges of stealing the classified personnel roster of 400 members of his former military unit.
Keith Michael Novak, 25, who served in Iraq with the Army鈥檚 82nd Airborne Division before joining the Minnesota Army National Guard, stole the identity information in a scheme to fund and provide fake identities for his militia unit, according to a federal criminal complaint.
The case was the latest example of extremists in military units, a problem that the Southern Poverty Law Center (人兽性交) has focused much public attention on . In 2006, the 人兽性交鈥檚 Intelligence Report a large number of extremists in the military, eventually leading to a .
In the Minnesota case, Novak told two undercover FBI agents he had the 400 encrypted identities 鈥� a 鈥渂attalion鈥檚 worth of people鈥� 鈥� for use if someone 鈥渆ver wanted to disappear and become someone else,鈥� the document says.
Novak also is believed to possess other items stolen from the military, including flak jackets, riot gear and communication equipment, the FBI complaint says.
The FBI put a hidden transmitter on Novak鈥檚 vehicle and secretly tape recorded conversations undercover agents had with him as part of the 10-month investigation, the document reveals. During one of those conversations, Novak said he was ready for a shootout with law enforcement if someone attempted to kick in his door, adding that he had thousands of rounds of ammunition and firearms hidden in caches throughout Minnesota. He was arrested without incident.
As Novak was being arrested, the FBI used its specialized Computerized Analysis Response Team to seize computers and peripherals, carrying out searches of at least three locations, including Novak鈥檚 apartment in Maplewood, Minn., a storage facility and his vehicle. Results of those searches haven鈥檛 been disclosed.
If stolen military equipment is found, Novak could face additional charges when the case is presented to a federal grand jury in Minneapolis.
Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, spokesman for the Minnesota National Guard, and Lt. Col. Virginia McCabe, spokeswoman for the 82nd Airborne Division, told yesterday that their respective units were cooperating with the FBI in the investigations.
Novak was an 鈥渋ntelligence analyst鈥� with the 82nd Airborne Division from February 2009 to Sept. 3, 2012, including a tour in Iraq from Jan. 3, 2010, to Aug. 6, 2010, the complaint affidavit says.
After leaving active duty, Novak joined the Minnesota Army National Guard and was given the job as a 鈥渉uman intelligence collector.鈥� He was sent last January to a special three-month counter-intelligence training course at Camp Williams, Utah. 鈥淭his course was conducted in several phases of instruction which included instruction of 鈥業nterrogation Operations of the Human Intelligence,鈥� 鈥楳ilitary Source Operations of the Human Intelligence Collector,鈥� and 鈥楾actical Operations,鈥欌�� the affidavit says.
While attending the military training in Utah, the documents says Novak met two men claiming to be members of a Utah militia unit who actually were undercover FBI agents.
Novak described his 鈥渋ntelligence collection methodology鈥� and invited the two men to Minnesota 鈥渨here he would provide them training on various military intelligence-related tasks, including the creation of 鈥榯arget packages鈥� and the effective conduct of interrogations,鈥� the document says.
During a second meeting with the undercover agents, Novak allegedly described how he stole classified material from Fort Bragg, N.C., when he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division.
The court document says the material was a 鈥淪ensitive Compartmentalized Access Roster,鈥� or SCARS, which included what the Army describes as 鈥減ersonally identifiable information,鈥� such as full names, dates of birth, places of birth, Social Security numbers, military ranks, security clearance levels and types of clearance investigation.
It鈥檚 not clear from the document whether or not the FBI has notified the individuals whose identities were stolen.
As part of the FBI鈥檚 investigation, a court-authorized tracking device was placed on Novak鈥檚 vehicle on May 13 and the undercover agents wore hidden body recorders when they traveled to Minnesota for meetings with him in July.
The charging document describes Novak as 鈥渁 member of a Minnesota militia organization where he is the self-described commander. This is not a military unit of the United States, the State of Minnesota or any other government entity,鈥� the document says. But it doesn鈥檛 further identify the militia group.
During the July meeting, Novak instructed one of the undercover agents to buy a high-resolution digital camera to copy classified information which was then transferred to a computer and two electronic storage devices, using encrypted files. The plan was to have the undercover agents manufacture false identifications for Novak to provide to at least 10 members of his militia unit.
On Sept. 28, five days after Novak transmitted seven identities, the two undercover agents attended a 鈥渕ilitary-style field training exercise鈥� with him 鈥渋n rural Minnesota.鈥� The following month, the document says, Novak offered to sell additional identities as a way of making money to fund his militia unit.
On Nov. 25, at his apartment, Novak accepted $2,000 from the two undercover agents for the identities of 44 individuals he鈥檇 provided them three weeks earlier. He 鈥渄escribed having destroyed the physical copies of the SCARS document, but saved a digital version 鈥渋n a really good spot that can never be found.鈥�
