The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Fairbanks militia leader Schaeffer Cox’s appeal of his conviction in 2012 on a charge of conspiracy to murder federal officials.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the high court didn’t include any comment in its rejection of the appeal.
Cox is serving a 26-year sentence for conspiring with a group of his supporters to kill officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and others. An Anchorage jury convicted Cox of crimes that include soliciting and conspiring to commit murder and owning illegal weapons. But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned Cox’s conviction for soliciting murder. Monday’s Supreme Court ruling leaves that ruling intact.
Cox drew the attention of law-enforcement agencies after he organized groups that include the Alaska Peacemakers Militia and the 2nd Amendment Task Force. He helped both groups stage large rallies, where among other things speakers threatened violence against law-enforcement officers, judges and federal officials.
Tim Ellis is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
