Update: CNN claim that violent militia group hosted tea party found to be erroneous

A militia group worried about the Antichrist was the subject of multiple reports over the weekend.

“A Christian militia group was a target of at least one of a series of weekend raids the FBI conducted in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, a Michigan militia leader says,” the Associated Press reports.

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The FBI said Sunday that it had conducted raids in the three states, resulting in at least three arrests. Federal warrants were sealed, but a federal law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said some of those arrested face gun charges and officials are pursuing other suspects. Some of the suspects were expected in court Monday. It wasn’t clear what prompted the raids, but Michael Lackomar, a spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, said one of his team leaders got a frantic phone call Saturday evening from members of Hutaree, a Christian militia group. They said their property in southeast Michigan was being raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Lackomar said. “They said they were under attack by the ATF and wanted a place to hide,” he said. “My team leader said, ‘No thanks.”‘

“Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment,” Hutaree.com reads. “The only thing on earth to save the testimony and those who follow it, are the members of the testimony, til the return of Christ in the clouds. We, the Hutaree, are prepared to defend all those who belong to Christ and save those who aren’t. We will still spread the word, and fight to keep it, up to the time of the great coming.”

Another AP report notes, “Two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that members of the group had planned multiple attacks on police officers or other law enforcement personnel as way to express their hatred for the government. Charges against members of the militia group are expected to be unsealed later Monday when some of the suspects appear in court.”

“Nine members of a militia group arrested in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio were planning to ‘levy war’ against the United States and ‘oppose by force’ the nation’s government, according to an indictment released this morning in U.S. District Court in Detroit,” the Detroit News reports.

The indictment says they were planning to kill a member of law enforcement, possibly after a traffic stop, to “prompt a response by law enforcement.” The goal: To “intimidate and demoralize law enforcement, diminishing their ranks and rendering them ineffective,” according to the indictment. The group then intended to use the incident to spark a “war” against law enforcement, using bombs, ambushes and prepared fighting positions.

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Update: An early CNN report associating the Hutaree with the Tea Parties has been shown to be erroneous. CNN’s Susan Candiotti had combined footage of the Hutaree website with a web page from an entirely different group, MichiganMilitia.com, inviting members to an “Open Carry Family Picnic & Tea Party” to be held on April 10, 2010. According to a Michigan blog, CNN has since altered their own video of the report to remove the invitation.

Raw Story regrets having perpetuated CNN’s error and has removed the inaccurate video from this story.

For its part, MichiganMilitia.com denies they have been “raided” by the FBI.

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Neither MICHIGANMILITIA.COM nor the SMVM have been “raided” by the FBI. We do nothing illegal. Some sources indicate that the sealed warrants will be released on Monday…This site has NOT been compromised by anyone, nor have we been raided at all. Please disregard any such false information that you might encounter on any comment boards.

This video is from Hutaree, uploaded to YouTube on May 31, 2007.

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Download video via RawReplay.com

Militia group may have been targeting Muslims

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This video is from CNN’s American Morning, broadcast March 29, 2010.

Download video via RawReplay.com