Who is David Stone & why aren't they saying

those terrible things about him?

David Stone David Stone and members of his Hutaree anti-government militia amassed a huge arsenal of weapons, including the ingredients for explosives, and allegedly plotted to kill a police officer and bomb his funeral. Hutaree leader David Stone rocked in a chair at the defense table after pleading guilty and told reporters he was a "stand-up true American patriot" whose anti-government comments and bravado about wanting to kill police were not a call to attack the United States. He and six militia members were cleared Tuesday of conspiracy charges, which he called a "victory for everyone" who cherishes the First Amendment. A federal judge in Michigan said they were just venting and exercising their First Amendment rights. Acquitted on charges of conspiring to rebel against the government Pled guilty to weapons charges Judge Roberts agreed with the defense attorney William Swor who said that the group's leader, David Stone, "was exercising his God-given right to blow off steam and open his mouth." It is a frightening scenario. Nine heavily armed men conduct military-style training in preparation for a terrorist attack involving the bombing of a funeral for the police officer they had killed three days earlier. Over a two-year period, a paid FBI informant and FBI agent infiltrate their cell, discuss building bombs and getting explosives and tape their conversations. By the time their homes are raided, they had amassed instructions and material for making bombs, night vision binoculars, machine guns, assault rifles, 148,000 rounds of ammunition, body armor, gas masks, tear gas, knifes and swords. Before their trial started, one of their members took a plea bargain, admitting the group "advocated" and prepared for violence against local, state and federal law enforcement. True, the government's case was not helped when the informant who received $31,000 to infiltrate the group got arrested for shooting at his wife, but it still seemed like the case against the others would be a slam dunk -- right? Well, it almost certainly would have been if they were Muslims. It is difficult to imagine any judge extending the protection of the First Amendment to taped conversations between Muslims stating that they should "start hunting" law enforcement "pretty soon" and that "it is time to strike and take our nation back so that we may be free again from tyranny." But that is what a Michigan federal judge, Victoria Roberts, did on March 27 in the case involving seven members of the Hutaree militia of self-described "Christian warriors." Throwing out the most serious charges against the four members of the Stone family and their associates, she declared that the case was "built largely of circumstantial evidence" and that the alleged plot to kill a local police officer and then attack his funeral procession is "utterly short on specifics."

Tariq Mehanna Tariq Mehanna ((alternate spelling Tarek), a 29-year-old pharmacist from Sudbury, Massachusetts, emailed friends, downloaded videos, translated and posted documents on the web, and traveled to and from Yemen in 2004. He also was taped stating that taking up arms against the US would be a violation of Islam since he lived and practiced his religion here. Judge George O'Toole in the Boston federal district court refused to allow the First Amendment to be introduced in the Mehanna case. 20 ½ years in solitary confinement Double standards distort the judicial process From the time he was a teenager, this 29-year old pharmacist from Sudbury was subjected to every kind of surveillance the FBI could muster -- secret sneak and peek searches, FISA wiretaps, the seizure of his emails, the use of informants. Having spent three years in solitary confinement, he could face decades more in prison [he got 17 ½ more years] after being convicted of plotting to go to Yemen for military training (which he never had), translating classical Islamic texts into English and expressing his views about the invasion of Iraq on websites. He also was taped stating that taking up arms against the US would be a violation of Islam since he lived and practiced his religion here. Mehanna never had a gun or an explosive. But he did refuse to become an FBI informant, even after being warned that unless he cooperated with the agency they would make his life hell. In a striking departure from Judge Victoria Roberts, Judge George O'Toole in the Boston federal district court refused to allow the First Amendment to be introduced in the Mehanna case. He refused to admit an ACLU of Massachusetts brief asking for certain charges to be dismissed on First Amendment grounds, he did not allow defense attorneys to bring up the First Amendment and he did not instruct the jury on what the First Amendment protects. Having spent three years in solitary confinement, [Tariq] could face decades more in prison after being convicted of plotting to go to Yemen for military training (which he never had), translating classical Islamic texts into English and expressing his views about the invasion of Iraq on websites. He also was taped stating that taking up arms against the US would be a violation of Islam since he lived and practiced his religion here. Mehanna never had a gun or an explosive. But he did refuse to become an FBI informant, even after being warned that unless he cooperated with the agency they would make his life hell.