Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
Five members of a Fairbanks Militia group have pleaded not guilty to an array of state charges including conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping, and weapons misconduct. Peacemakers Militia leader Francis “Schaefer” Cox, and members Coleman Barney, Michael Anderson and Lonnie and Karen Vernon allegedly stockpiled weapons as part of a retaliatory plot against judges and state troopers they felt threatened or wronged by. Prior to their March 10 arrest, Schaefer Cox was a fugitive, resisting a minor weapons charge, and the Vernons were fighting the IRS over income taxes. The group of militia members share an ideology that denies the legitimacy of government based on their interpretation of a strict adherence to the constitution.
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