ARIZONA MILITIA SUSPECTS SEEN AS VERY `MAINSTREAM' : EXPERTS SAY SCARIEST ELEMENTS ARE `NORMAL' JOBS, LIVES OF 12 INDIVIDUALS.

Byline: V. Dion Haynes Chicago Tribune 

By day, they led ordinary lives.

One worked in a doughnut shop and ran unsuccessfully for political office. Another was an accounts representative for the phone company. Others painted houses, sold office furnishings and repaired air-conditioning units.

But in their spare time, they allegedly were the Viper Militia. These 10 men and two women, federal officials say, stockpiled hundreds of weapons and tons of bomb-making chemicals and allegedly plotted to blow up numerous federal buildings, a police headquarters and a television station in a dramatic expression of their anti-government views.

The 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the recently concluded Freemen standoff in Montana offered glimpses into the far-right fringes of the militia and patriot movements, leaving the impression that the groups consisted mainly of drifters and fugitives.

But the arrests last week of the 12 suspects, all of whom lived in and around Phoenix, hints at a frightening possibility about the movement: The violent segment may be more widespread and deeply ingrained in mainstream society than was initially perceived.

``The scariest thing about this movement is there are a lot of `normal' folks,'' said Ken Toole, director of the Montana Human Rights Network, who tracks the militia movement nationwide.

``We all want to envision the extremists as having fangs and drooling, but they could be your neighbors next door,'' he said.

FBI officials said Wednesday they were investigating whether the Viper Militia may have been responsible for the derailment of an Amtrak train in October near Hyder, Ariz. The Sunset Limited train tumbled 30 feet from a trestle, killing a crew member and injuring 78 passengers.

Though the militia members allegedly had documents outlining how they could target ``unguarded rail lines,'' FBI officials stressed that at this point there is no evidence to suggest a link to the derailment.

The 12 suspects face a variety of charges including unlawful possession of assault rifles and conspiracy to unlawfully manufacture, receive and possess destructive devices made with ammonium nitrite, the chemical used in the Oklahoma City bombing.

Authorities said that the arms caches in some of the homes searched last week were so extensive that little living space was left.

Among those arrested were Dean Pleasant, 27, who briefly worked at Kathy's Doughnut Shop and was an unsuccessful Libertarian candidate for a state Senate seat two years ago; Henry Alfred Overturf, 37, a doorman at a Phoenix topless club; and Ellen Adella Belliveau, 27, an accounts representative at AT&T.

In that position, Belliveau allegedly examined phone records of prospective militia members to screen out law-enforcement officers, according to court documents.

The fact that the Viper members were interested in weapons and paramilitary exercises and harbored a disdain for the government raised no red flags among neighbors and acquaintances.

In this state, where it is legal to carry a sidearm and where firing ranges are nearly as commonplace as golf courses, guns are a popular hobby.

Still, even weapons-savvy locals were taken aback by the size of the stockpile and the manner in which the 12 suspects allegedly planned their government attack.

``They're a bunch of white, middle-class people who are upset with the system. Boy, you can find a lot of those people here,'' said Alan Trabilcy, owner of Outpost Firearm and Ammunition Inc., who regularly sold ammunition to Belliveau, her husband, David, and Pleasant. David Belliveau, a maintenance worker, also was among the 12 arrested last week.

``They would stop in often and buy a case of ammunition. Buying a case of ammunition in Arizona is like buying tires - it is a common occurrence,'' Trabilcy added.

Arizona militia officials estimate that about 200 such groups, with more than 15,000 members, operate in the state.

The militias enjoy widespread support in Arizona, backed by prominent officials including former Gov. Evan Meacham and Richard Mack, a county sheriff who filed a lawsuit challenging the Brady Law. That suit is expected to go before the U.S. Supreme Court soon.

The groups' focuses vary, experts say. Some simply like to shoot their rifles on the weekend, some train to protect themselves in the event of a foreign invasion and others study how to conduct terrorism attacks against the government.

The Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks the militia movement, obtained a copy of what it believes is the Vipers' operation manual. The 65-page document, among other things, spells out how to destroy public buildings and railways.

``They think they have a role to play in saving the government. They (attack the government) as an act of a patriotic citizen,'' said Morris Dees, the center's executive director.

Several Arizona militia members repudiated the alleged plot by the Vipers. Still, they said, the government crackdowns on such activity only fuels the movement, giving some militia members an impetus to become martyrs.

``It is my belief that the government infiltrators go into the groups and provoke them into these terrorist activities so they will have an excuse to shut them down,'' said Sheila Reynolds, editor and publisher of Resurrection News and Fax Network for the militia movement.

``The federal government agencies are using Nazi mentality to bully and intimidate people, forcing them to go underground and to become violent,'' she said.

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Photo

PHOTO A federal agent loads one of several bags of ammonium nitrate discovered in the home of one of the members of the Viper Militia.

Associated Press