HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — A sheriff in Mississippi says authorities are searching for two men who fired gunshots from a vehicle at soldiers at a military facility. No injuries were reported.
Perry County Sheriff Jimmy Dale Smith tells WDAM-TV (http://bit.ly/1UlrHi6) that the shots were fired just after noon Tuesday. The soldiers were training at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in Hattiesburg.
U.S. Special Forces Command designated Camp Shelby as one of the sites where a multi-state military training exercise, "Jade Helm 15", was expected to take place, according to The Army Times.
About 4,600 soldiers are participating in the training exercise, which is scheduled to continue through mid-August.
A vehicle matching the description of the two suspects' truck was found near New Augusta off Old Augusta Road, according to WDAM. The suspects were driving a red Ford Ranger with the words "broken arrow" on the windshield.
Two men are being questioned by MHP, but are not under arrest at this time. Authorities say they are still looking for two white males who allegedly fired from the vehicle and fled in the vehicle.
Conspiracy theory websites have noted that a logo used in a "leaked" slideshow presentation for the "Jade Helm 15" exercise featured broken arrows in its design. In military terminology, "broken arrow" is code used to signal for assistance when a unit or camp is overrun.
Members of the Forrest County Sheriff's Department and the Mississippi Forestry Commission are assisting in the search.
I will be interested to see if these yahoos will actually be prosecuted if found. Our justice system seems to have a pretty big blind spot when it comes to gun-toting white guys who hate the federal government.
I think my brother is there now. Excellent. Now I can worry about him when he's in the U.S. for training and when he's deployed.
If it makes you feel better, I've been to Camp Shelby and you have to pass through a gated security checkpoint to get into the base and anywhere near where the soldiers would be training/staying. I'm reading it like these wackadoodles fired at the gatehouse and sped off, which I'm sure was scary for the guards, but not really a danger to the other soldiers.
I get it though. US soil is supposed to be "safe" and when that sense of safety is broken it's anxiety-inducing.
I think my brother is there now. Excellent. Now I can worry about him when he's in the U.S. for training and when he's deployed.
If it makes you feel better, I've been to Camp Shelby and you have to pass through a gated security checkpoint to get into the base and anywhere near where the soldiers would be training/staying. I'm reading it like these wackadoodles fired at the gatehouse and sped off, which I'm sure was scary for the guards, but not really a danger to the other soldiers.
I get it though. US soil is supposed to be "safe" and when that sense of safety is broken it's anxiety-inducing.
That does make me feel better. I just worry they will get bolder.
It was just nice that he was back in the States so I could not worry about him for a bit. He's a Green Beret so I know when he's deployed he's probably doing things I don't want to know about, but he came back last month for training and then will head back overseas in another month or so.
Three men were arrested in Gaston County, North Carolina after allegedly amassing an arsenal and making their own bombs out of fear that the government was about to enact martial law, the Asheville Citizen Times reported.
Federal investigators said two of the suspects, 50-year-old Walter Eugene Litteral and 30-year-old Christopher Todd Campbell, voiced their skepticism regarding the Operation Jade Helm military training exercises, which conspiracy theorists believe is the prelude to a military takeover.
The FBI began investigating the two men, along with 41-year-old Christopher James Barker, last month after receiving a tip that Barker and Litteral were trying to make homemade explosives, which the latter reportedly called “game changers.” The bombs were allegedly made by filling tennis balls with ball bearings, then covering them in nails and coffee cans.
WTVD-TV reported that Litteral bought body armor, Kevlar helmets, and radios. He also reportedly planned to buy an assault rifle and ammunition for Barker, who was ineligible to do so himself because of prior convictions for possessing cocaine and stolen goods.
The three men reportedly planned to test their weapons out in Shelby, with Litteral allegedly saying, “It is going to be great.”
After being arrested on Saturday, the three suspects face federal charges of conspiring to violate federal laws regarding firearms and explosive devices. Campbell also faces a separate weapons charge. They are due back in court on Thursday for detention hearings. It was unclear as of Tuesday night whether they had attorneys.
Reports of the arrest came on the same day that two men allegedly opened fire on a “Jade Helm 15″ training site in Mississippi.
Post by cattledogkisses on Aug 5, 2015 13:31:34 GMT -5
I wonder if this is about trying to make a statement rather than actually hurting people (I hope anyway).
H and I were talking about it last night and he pointed out that I had overlooked that parts of Shelby are open to ATVs, so what I said about it all being secure technically isn't true (sorry eclaires!). So firing at the gatehouse is about the most ineffective way to attack people, which is why I'm hoping that maybe this is just about making a (batshit crazy) statement.
A person was detained and being questioned Wednesday afternoon in connection with a report of shots fired for a second consecutive day near a Mississippi military facility where part of the "Jade Helm 15" training exercise is expected to take place.
Local TV station WDAM reported that police were searching the area near Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg when a maroon truck passed them. Police heard a shot and pursued the motorist, who claimed he had no gun and that his truck backfired, according to the news station.
Authorities said earlier Wednesday that they were looking for a white male driving a maroon pick-up truck, the same suspect description as in Tuesday's shooting near the same military facility.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation confirmed that a person of interest was taken into custody, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger newspaper. The agency described the person of interest as a white male, according to the newspaper.
Post by downtoearth on Aug 5, 2015 13:50:21 GMT -5
This isn't really getting any news coverage. I can't imagine the mindset of people who think their own democratic government training troops is worthy of shooting at!
Convicted Felon in Custody Over Jade Helm Shooting
We've got more news on the two shooting incidents at a military training facility in Hattiesburg, Mississippi which is part of the Jade Helm 15 military exercises.
Police have taken into custody 61 year old Alfred Baria, a convicted felon. He's been charged with two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and four counts of disturbing the peace. Baria admits he's the man authorities are looking for. But in a twist, he says it's all a big misunderstanding.
That wasn't gunfire. They were backfires from his truck - which apparently happened at the same entrance to same facility on two consecutive days. Go figure.
Sheriff Jimmy Dale said authorities were still interviewing Baria and the investigation has now been turned over the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
I know the update says it was apparently a truck backfire. But I hate that white guys can make a statement by shooting at our military but other people can barely gather in groups without being considered violent or threatening.
Can we separate right-wing 'Patriot' movement terrorists from the white rural subculture from which they emerge? Let's not be naive. In case you missed the story today, many in the 'Patriot' community have been concerned that the Jade Helm 15 military exercises currently being conducted in the Southwest were actually a cover for a military takeover of several states that are already part of America. The problem for three guys from North Carolina was that while their state wasn't in the takeover zone they still didn't want to just sit around like losers while President Obama took away their liberties.
So they set about stockpiling weapons and explosives with a plan to lure soldiers from Jade Helm over to their state - or actually next door to South Carolina for some reason - where they could ambush and kill a lot of them. If that didn't pan out, Ringleader Walter Eugene Litteral, 50, also had a plan to booby trap his house so when the feds showed up there as part of the federal crackdown he'd blown them up to. Said Litteral: "Lemme tell you something I gunna have my fucking house rigged up these mother fuckers come try to come in my house its going off we gonna look here we’re partying."
Alas, someone ratted them out to the Feds and now they are looking at hard time in a federal slammer, an ironic end to their heroic, balls-to-the-wall quest for liberty. He is the rest of the story.
North Carolina is not one of the states where the U.S. military training exercise dubbed "Jade Helm 15" is taking place this summer. Nevertheless, three men from Gaston County were charged with conspiring to arm themselves with illegal explosive devices to combat what they saw as a potential military takeover, according to court documents unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Charlotte.
The documents alleged Walter Eugene Litteral, 50, Christopher James Barker, 42, and Christopher Todd Campbell, 30, stockpiled weapons and discussed how to build homemade explosive devices. Litteral also allegedly tried to purchase a firearm for Barker, who is a convicted felon.
A tipster first contacted the FBI in June after becoming concerned that Litteral and Campbell were "preparing to use lethal force against United States government forces in order to defend against the imposition of martial law or other infringements on their rights," according to an affidavit. The affidavit noted that the two men had discussed their belief that "Jade Helm 15" was actually a cover for the implementation of martial law with the tipster.
Litteral ordered a great deal of military-grade equipment from the tipster, including approximately 60 rounds of ammunition for a .338 caliber long-range rifle, Kevlar helmets and body armor, according to the affidavit. He requested that the equipment be delivered by July 15, the start date of the military training exercise. He also purchased smokeless rifle powder, two-way radios and balaclavas.
The affidavit cited recorded conversations that showed Litteral allegedly planned to have his house rigged with explosives should any government agents come knocking.
“Lemme tell you something I gunna have my fucking house rigged up these mother fuckers come try to come in my house its going off we gonna look here we’re partying," Litteral allegedly told the tipster in a June 19 phone call.
In a July 15 conversation between Litteral and an individual identified only as "J," Litteral allegedly suggested that his wife knew about his plans to rig the house and added that he'd stashed weapons for use against any government forces trying to enter the home.
“I got a fucking 45 beside my bed. I got a 45 and a 9 mil in my truck. I’ve got a 9 mil and a 380 or a 380 in her car. Safe full of weapons," he said, as quoted in the affidavit. "You know what? Every time I open up this damn safe, I mean I’ve got, I’ve got at least 30 weapons that I can see and some tucked all the way in the back, back.”
A photo of Walter Eugene Litteral from his Facebook page. Litteral further discussed his plans to build various homemade explosives with the tipster, according to the documents. One device, which he allegedly referred to as a "game changer," would be made by packing nail-coated tennis balls with gun powder and an explosive called Tannerite. The documents said he explained to the tipster that he could shoot a coffee can packed with gun powder and ball bearings to make it explode and detonate pipe bombs by placing M-80 fireworks inside.
Campbell allegedly contributed to the plot by converting dummy grenades into live grenades while Barker supplied pipe fittings to construct the pipe bombs, according to the documents.
Campbell also informed the tipster that he and Litteral planned to set up camp on a 99-acre plot of land near Clover, South Carolina. There, Campbell allegedly said they planned to "booby-trap the camp and draw government’s forces into the camp and kill them," according to an affidavit.
Interestingly, the court documents hinted that there was some tension among this group of survivalists. As early as July 3, Litteral allegedly told the tipster that he thought Campbell was “too high strung” and that someone who behaved like that would prevent him from protecting his family.
The three men didn't appear to have prolific social media presences. A Facebook page that apparently belonged to Litteral showed that he "liked" pages for various patriot groups, including the Oath Keepers, North Carolina Citizen Militia, and the Three Percenters. Litteral had served in the Marines for 14 years, according to local TV station WSOC.
Campbell and Barker had criminal records, according to the complaints against them. Campbell pleaded down to a misdemeanor assault charge after being arrested in 2011 for kidnapping, aggravated assault and marijuana possession, while Barker had felony convictions dating back to 1993 for cocaine possession and possession of stolen goods.
It's unclear whether the three men have attorneys. They are scheduled to be in court Thursday for a bond hearing, WSOC reported.
The news station spoke with Campbell's fianceé, who declined to comment on the investigation but did say that she stood behind Campbell. Separately, two men who answered the door at Litteral's house told a WSOC reporter that the charges against him were untrue.