Lenawee County court records shed light on Hutaree militia leader
Trailers on property belonging to David Brian Stone, the leader of Midwest Christian militia Hutaree, are shown Monday - the day after an FBI raid in Clayton, Mich.
Madalyn Ruggiero | The Associated Press
Lenawee County Circuit Court records shed some light on the leader of the Christian-oriented Hutaree militia group now under indictment.
Nine members of the group are in custody after federal investigators say they were plotting to kill law enforcement officers.
David Brian Stone Sr.
David Brian Stone, 45, of Clayton, is accused of leading the group and bringing his wife and at least two sons into Hutaree - described by federal authorities as an anti-government extremist organization.
Militia members say Stone - known as "Captain Hutaree" - also is the group's pastor. Charged along with him are his sons David Brian Stone Jr., Joshua Matthew Stone, wife Tina Mae Stone and five others.
All are charged with seditious conspiracy, attempting to use weapons of mass destruction and two counts possessing a firearm during a crime of violence. Some face additional charges. If convicted, they could spend the rest of their lives in prison.
According to court records, David Brian Stone Sr. has twice been divorced and has three sons and a daughter, ranging in age from 18 to 24.
Dona Stone speaks to the media outside federal court Monday. Associated Press photo
On Sept. 5, 2000, his second wife, Donna Stone, sought a personal protection order against him, records show. He had been married to her for two years at the time.
A judge refused to grant it, citing “insufficient allegations,” records show.
In a handwritten letter, Donna Stone alleged her husband “kicked me out of our home” and didn’t want her to take her son with her. She wrote that she went to the home with a friend on Aug. 22, 2000, to pick up her son after calling the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office, records show.
When she arrived, she didn’t see police, so she didn’t stop, the letter says.
According to the letter, when she drove by the home again, “David Brian Stone was standing in the front yard with his gun.” She wrote she parked down the road until police showed up.
Their divorce was final on April, 17, 2006, ending a roughly eight-year union that began in 1998, records show.
According to court records, the two had one child "as a result of the marriage," as 19-year-old David Brian Stone Jr., who has been charged in the case.
David Brian Stone has three children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce on May 24, 1994, after nine years, records show.
From that marriage, he has a 23-year-old son, 21-year-old son Joshua Matthew Stone, who has been charged in the indictment, and an 18-year-old daughter.
Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at (734) 623-2527 and email at leehiggins@annarbor.com.
Comments
Jake C
Thu, Apr 1, 2010 : 2:34 p.m.
@Technojunkie: "I'd be looking for forged headers, spoofed IP addresses, unlikely origin IP addresses, whether the Hutaree members had properly secured their wireless routers [...]" So if I want to mount a solid defense against FBI allegations (or the RIAA/MPAA, for that matter) I should leave my wireless router unsecured, and then claim it was someone else who made those terrorist threats (or downloaded that Creed album, or Michael Moore movie) and I'm in the clear? Thanks for the legal advice!
Jake C
Thu, Apr 1, 2010 : 2:23 p.m.
@Technojunkie: "The "Evil Jew Forum" title is obviously there to tweak the leftists. Right-wing humor can be very subtle." Funniest thing I've read in the past month. Or is this just an April Fool?
Chrysta Cherrie
Wed, Mar 31, 2010 : 5:48 p.m.
A comment containing a personal attack was removed.
Technojunkie
Wed, Mar 31, 2010 : 3:18 p.m.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100331/ap_on_re_us/us_fbi_raids The FBI had an undercover agent wired for sound. That's much more substantial than what I anticipated.
cinnabar7071
Wed, Mar 31, 2010 : 3:15 p.m.
"One thing to keep in mind is that these types of groups are gaining mainstream street cred, and promotion of their radical ideas." Really? Thats a pretty radical thought right there. I've never heard on Fox news or anywhere else, thats it's OK to shoot and kill the police. Please post a link to were the mainstream anywhere believes what you just wrote. Keep trying.
clownfish
Wed, Mar 31, 2010 : 9:23 a.m.
One thing to keep in mind is that these types of groups are gaining mainstream street cred, and promotion of their radical ideas. We can even see it here when people post things like Obama is a "socialist dictator", a comment totally removed from reality. From SPLC- Unlike the 1990s, the Patriot movement's central ideas are being promoted by people with large audiences, such as FOX News' Glenn Beck and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Beck, for instance, reinvigorated a key Patriot conspiracy theory - the charge that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is secretly running concentration camps - before finally "debunking" it. " I think that there is no doubt that right wing media outlets are feeding dangerous people fodder and offering up extremely radical ideas that lead the already unstable over the edge. It is up to "mainstream" conservatives and moderates to call upon these media outlets and convince them to stop the over the top rhetoric before innocent people pay the price. Having a congressional rep stand on the floor of congress and call the passing of an insurance bill "the start of Armageddon!" is beyond ANY civilized debate, and only serves to feed the fires of radical extremists. Of course, when another Oklahoma happens, the backtracking from the Becks of the world will begin in earnest, the "That may be what I said, but that is not what I meant." mantra will become the call letters of FOX.
clownfish
Wed, Mar 31, 2010 : 8:59 a.m.
This story is a yawner, no news. What I too am interested in is coverage of the Bridgewater official that used some of these folks as search and rescue teams, rather than to call on real search and rescue personnel. Did the official know that "militias" in America have a sordid history, that the feds are watching many of them for serious reasons, that organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center have ongoing updates on these groups. Or, does the Bridgewater official think the FBI and DHS are out of line, and the SPLC is a "liberal" fringe group? I am hoping a reporter from A2.com is planning on attending the next Bridgewater public meeting and asking some real questions.
Technojunkie
Wed, Mar 31, 2010 : 8:55 a.m.
@Rusty: both W and Saddam assumed that the CIA was competent and look where that got us. Be very careful with assumptions. It's possible that the FBI's A-team was busy with bigger fish than the Hutaree. I'm just saying that a competent defense has to be able to verify the FBI's evidence. It's possible that one of the leftists who like to harass the Hutaree thought it would be funny to forge a little Internet comm traffic to send the FBI rushing in. To me, that makes more sense than some Hollywood-ish story of a handful of guys with semiautomatic rifles thinking that they're going to start a revolution but like I said real life doesn't always make sense.
FreedomLover
Wed, Mar 31, 2010 : 2:51 a.m.
Are Bush and Cheney a part of this paramilitary group?
stonecutter1
Wed, Mar 31, 2010 : 12:08 a.m.
It's all a conspiracy man! The Man is out to get us! Big Brother, blah blah! Viva la Revolucian! Please...
stonecutter1
Wed, Mar 31, 2010 : 12:02 a.m.
WOW!
Technojunkie
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 9:11 p.m.
If I were on the Hutaree's legal defense team I'd want to analyze the FBI's comm intercepts very closely. I'm going to bet that the incriminating ones are all plaintext Internet messages. I'd be looking for forged headers, spoofed IP addresses, unlikely origin IP addresses, whether the Hutaree members had properly secured their wireless routers, evidence that email account passwords were compromised, you name it. Don't assume that a matching MAC address (unique ID assigned to every Ethernet and WiFi adapter) assures authenticity, those are trivial to change. If all the feds have is Internet text traffic I'd check whether some or all of it was manufactured and not by the feds. Get detailed technical info on that traffic and get someone who knows what they're doing to verify it. Make sure you do your own independent forensic analysis of the contents of the Hutaree member hard drives. The prosecution should be able to provide drive images for you to work with. If you read the Hutaree's web site forums they've been dealing with leftist trolls for quite some time. The "Evil Jew Forum" title is obviously there to tweak the leftists. Right-wing humor can be very subtle and watching it go over the heads of the Left is the source of much entertainment. Read this thread carefully to see why I think this: http://www.hutaree.com/forum/read.php?12,69 The allegations made by the FBI make no sense. I can't understand how even an evil rotten moron would think that attacking law enforcement would have a useful effect after the Oklahoma City bombing utterly predictable blowback. Then again, as Tom Clancy said, the difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense. Speaking of properly securing wireless routers: if you're using WEP encryption you're not secure. WEP keys can be cracked in a few minutes. Use WPA or WPA2 with AES. This page will generate very good random keys for you: https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm Directional antennas with line-of-sight can snoop WiFi traffic from miles away, especially in sparsely populated areas. Most routers default to no encryption to make initial setup easier. U-verse routers used to default to WEP.
bedrog
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 8:15 p.m.
ian...re your question above: ummm.. the fact that they ( from reports on their ideology, website etc) make them sound like proper nazis..or christian jihadis if you prefer...i.e ( lethal, inane ideology cherry picked from old ambiguous texts who are precisely the sort to do in those they disagree with. after all, that's what they're being indicted for...by a conscientious government...thank god!! if you are suggesting that they and not the government are the good guys here, citing rev neimoller in support of your views is a combination of laughable and contemptible.
Otto Mobeal
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 8:10 p.m.
Dona Stone or Donna Stone?
KJMClark
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 7:52 p.m.
I think people who thought the first article was pro-militia should go back and read it again. It looks pretty balanced to me. There are experts pointing out that dealing with militias is a bad idea and "It certainly seems poorly advised to be kind, to ask people who believe in completely false conspiracy theories and see the government largely as an enemy to help in law enforcement matters. I dont see how that could work out well." That looks like pretty balanced reporting to me. I've been thinking that it's amazing timing. From the first article to the last, you can see that just about no one except the FBI knew what the Hutaree (and what does that word mean, anyway?) were up to. The article from the 25th quoted from a Wendy Linewater, a Hutaree member, who didn't sound like she knew what they were really up to, or she probably wouldn't have said anything. Last, please lay off the begat argument about who's son was whose. It sure sounds like AA.com said it right, and there doesn't seem to be a point in arguing about it anyway.
Basic Bob
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 7:35 p.m.
I was dismayed to hear from several posters that the United States is now just like 1930s Germany, and that every media outlet has become a propaganda tool for the fascism. Seriously, some people have overreacted to every mention of these paramilitary groups. Right away, there was a huge outcry from the Muslim and Jewish communities that the nutcases were coming for them. That has not been supported in fact. Now the same people quickly attack the local and national media for spotty coverage as if they had the last 75 years to do research on this eccentric little group. Why so angry?
Ian
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 7:16 p.m.
bedrog, "these hutaree-ites sound like the "they" who "came for" everyone else that they disagreed with." How do you know that? What is the source you are relying on?
bedrog
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 5:19 p.m.
ian ( and your neimoller quote)...these hutaree-ites sound like the "they" who "came for" everyone else that they disagreed with. so far i trust my government a hell of alot more than some of my fellow citizens with their inflammatory fanatic rhetoric ( on both far left and far right extremes).
Jeff Renner
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 4:35 p.m.
@ annarbor - You wrote, "A2.com reported on an incident that occurred in Bridgewater where a para-military group assisted in the search of a missing child." I think that the two cases in which they were called in for assistance were missing adults.
Ian
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 4:18 p.m.
"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. THEN THEY CAME for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. THEN THEY CAME for the Catholics, and I didnt speak up because I was a Protestant. THEN THEY CAME for me and by that time no one was left to speak up." - Pastor Martin Niemller (18921984) Do not be a "good German." It could happen here.
Jake C
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 3:14 p.m.
How can that be any more evenhanded evaluation of the situation, without becoming an Editorial/Opinion piece? The AA.com writers aren't psychics and apparently they don't have sources at the FBI, or they would have known the Hutaree were under investigation for treasonous activities. Otherwise they'd probably appear not too different from all the other slightly loony rural religious-oriented gun clubs that most likely *aren't* plotting to commit murder.
Macabre Sunset
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 3:09 p.m.
How would anyone be in a position to know what these mythical Jesus and God creatures would do? Religious arguments are amusing, if nothing else. But these arguments are also dangerous. Someone who seeks power, like Stone, can use these mythical creatures to create a personal follower. Amalie, I think you're missing my point. The story is misleading. I'm trying to put the pieces together. Now it seems Donna has two sons, both fathered by unknown men. One was adopted by Stone, and possibly renamed, and somehow assumed to be the "result" of her new marriage, even though the child was six at the time of the marriage so that's not even physically possible. It seems possible the adopted son was, in fact, his, though, through adultery, or some other arrangement. However, there is a second son who was living there, and she wanted to take him and couldn't. Whose son was that? Older? Younger? And then there were other arrested people with the Stone name, but it's not clear if they are sons or daughters, adopted, married, borne or immaculately conceived.
Lokalisierung
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 3:06 p.m.
"A handful of the groups members were arrested without incident during a Hutaree meeting Saturday night in Ann Arbor, McQuade said." Well then, that will be the last time they trust the big 'ol city.
hypsi
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 3:01 p.m.
Looks like they were planning an attack in April. Prosecutor: Feds moved on Hutaree case because of imminent threat. http://www.lenconnect.com/extras/hutaree/x1176899310/Prosecutor-Feds-moved-on-Hutaree-case-because-of-imminent-threat
Lokalisierung
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 2:48 p.m.
"This bunch is refered to a Christian-based militia group. Would Jesus really take kindly to their behavior?" probably not. God yes, but not jesus. That might put them in a pickle about what to do.
SemperFi
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 2:45 p.m.
This bunch is refered to a Christian-based militia group. Would Jesus really take kindly to their behavior? Doubt it. One more thing. Has anyone ever thought about studying the overwhelming desire of these psuedo-military (and I use the term loosely) groups to live in squalor? Just sayin'.
cinnabar7071
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 2:40 p.m.
Gribble I have people in my phone that I do not know very well, and yes some might be insane and dangerous. I had a guy living next door to me that seemed pretty nice, until he murdered somebody. You just don't know, but you seem to have all the answers.
cinnabar7071
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 2:29 p.m.
Gribble I don't see anywhere in that paragraph that says they were close friends, or friends at all. Only that he started making phone calls, and got 3 people from hutaree. I have people I barely know in my phone book, infact I've names in my phone I have no idea who they are, but at one time I thought I might need that # and saved it.
Macabre Sunset
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 2:09 p.m.
@Amalie - "The two had one child as a result of the marriage, identified in court records as 19-year-old David Brian Stone Jr." So the reporter made an assumption, then, because "had one child as a result of the marriage," implies some participation in the birth process. It's also sloppy in that there was a child actually conceived during the marriage. When you're reporting, even if it's just a blog like this one, you have to ask questions. If the marriage dates aren't adding up, ask. Don't just blame the courts for printing misleading records. They're just bureaucrats - they have nothing invested in releasing a correct record. This is Journalism 101 here. And now, because the questions were asked, you have a fascinating sidebar. This woman was so taken that she agreed to change her son's name, implying full ownership of this child, to be more a part of this cult.
iceman
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 2:04 p.m.
This whole story is great fodder for a Eminem or Kid Rock song. But I do wonder if the authorities would have moved as quickly if the group was planning to kill civilians?
elahaie
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 2:03 p.m.
"From what I've heard, these guys were an odd bunch." - John of Saline John, That's the understatement of the year!
John of Saline
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 1:53 p.m.
From what I've heard, these guys were an odd bunch, and when they asked the more mainstream militia groups for help, the reply was an unequivocal "no, turn yourselves in."
elahaie
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 1:47 p.m.
will annarbor.com be contacting the Bridgewater twp official (Jolea Mull?) for a follow-up interview? if not, why not?
Fred
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 1:10 p.m.
Maybe the article was an ever so gentle wake up call wrapped snuggly in the dozing sounds of muzak. Not an exemplary moment for the fourth branch of govt.
SMAIVE
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 1 p.m.
It's all in the individual's perception. I'm not sure the first article was a full-on PR piece, or perhaps maybe something more. I greatly appreciate A2.com for bringing the matter to our attention. I'm sure many saw it as a promotion, others though, as perhaps more of a wake up call. For me, it was definitely the latter. Or more preciously, OH CRAP!
Macabre Sunset
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 1 p.m.
You seem a little confused here. There's a 19-year-old son, the product of a marriage that began in 1997-98, who was charged. But since he has an 18-year-old daughter who was the product of another marriage, the 19-year-old couldn't be Donna's, unless this is an episode of Big Love. Either you're wrong about the kid's parentage, or you're wrong that he was the product of a marriage. Either way, sloppy reporting.
Lokalisierung
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 12:56 p.m.
True. I do see this as just another website with "bloggers" so I'm not too shocked about anything.
Lokalisierung
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 12:34 p.m.
"Too little, too late. I'll get my facts on this story from any one of a dozen other outlets." Haha...no offense Alan but you're not going anywhere. If you guys spent 1/5 of the time looking up facts instead of posting you long drawn out complaints about this site you could start your own website.
djm12652
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 12:24 p.m.
Does any of the reporting staff have any info as to the professional military background, if any, of any of the alleged conspirators? From the photos I saw, most of them were not wearing current military camo but more like hunting camo...
Fred
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 12:23 p.m.
Well said, Gribble. There's no question that the Bridgewater missing person story was one-sided to the point of PR piece for the extremeists. And the article's accompanying video gave them absolute free rein. No hate group experts to be seen. But today of course we've got the article featuring an EMU 'militia expert' calling Hutaree a cult. You also could not find the voice of a reporter on that video, much less the cult members having to answer probing questions. It was more like, here's what we do: we grab sticks out of the forest and sharpen them. AnnArbor.com owes an explanation as to how this expose got published at all. One day they're adult boy scouts, the next exposed to be conspirators in mass murder.
annarbor
Tue, Mar 30, 2010 : 12:07 p.m.
"Your credibility has taken a serious hit and it can't recover until the editors offer some explanation and apology". Bit of an over-statement? A2.com reported on an incident that occurred in Bridgewater where a para-military group assisted in the search of a missing child. They did not do a special investigation piece on fringe militia groups and then sing the praises of the Hutaree militia group.