TOCCOA — They looked like just a group of old men sitting and talking at the Waffle House and other local restaurants.
But the four North Georgia men accused of plotting domestic terrorism — retirees, gray-haired, neighborly looking — were deep into a plan to produce the biological toxin ricin and embark on government assassinations, according to the FBI. The men referred to their fringe militia as the “covert group” and at least one said he was willing to die for their cause: which was to stir a revolution that, as they saw it, would restore a constitutional government to the U.S.
To piece together their actions, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained federal search warrants, affidavits and indictments that show how the extremist group allegedly moved beyond planning attacks on government buildings, officials and the general public. When the men were charged Tuesday — shortly after they suspected they were the target of a government sting operation — they allegedly had purchased silencers for guns and what they thought were explosives, and expanded their discussions to spread toxins on roads in major cities such as Atlanta, Washington and New Orleans.
Michael Trost, a defense attorney for one of the men, denied they had anything criminal in mind. “They were just grumpy old men talking,” Trost said.
The accused are Samuel J. Crump, 68; Ray H. Adams, 55; and Dan Roberts, 67, all of Toccoa, and the man authorities say was the ringleader, Frederick W. Thomas, 73, of Cleveland, a retired space engineer.
Thomas and Roberts met with other unidentified people on March 17, the first meeting that was secretly recorded by a confidential FBI informant inside the group, according to the search warrants. They met at Thomas’ brown wooden home, and Thomas established himself as the leader. When the men showed off the weapons they were carrying, Thomas bragged that he had enough firearms to arm everyone at the table.
Roberts said he knew people in Habersham County who had a substance that could kill people with a very small amount, called ricin, made from castor beans, and the conversation turned to ways to obtain the beans, the documents show.
Roberts had retired in recent years from a signage business, and he and his wife were known to save cats and dogs and keep them on their property. He was a friendly man who enjoyed grabbing meals at the cafeteria in the local hospital because it was cheaper than other places, neighbors said.
Another meeting occurred on April 3, at a Shoney’s restaurant in Lavonia, and Thomas, while referring to his past military service, said he thought they could “fight off a SWAT team.”
Roberts had been engaged in militia-like activities for a decade, including the Militia of Georgia, said Mark Pitcavage, who tracks extremist groups for the Anti-Defamation League.
Under his desk, Adams kept a metal box containing a list of poisons and their effects. It also contained a recipe for ricin on a piece of paper, which said, “You take this and you die in four days,” according to the criminal complaint against him in the recent case.
“When it comes down to it, I can kill somebody,” Adams said at an April 16 meeting, according to the search warrants.
Thomas punctuated a May 17 meeting with his anger at the Internal Revenue Service and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, according to the documents. Seven days later, the informant recorded Thomas and the informant driving in a red pickup truck to case out two Atlanta buildings for attacks: the ATF building on Century Parkway and IRS building on West Peachtree Street.
In May, Thomas told Roberts he was ready to move forward in buying silencers — unknowingly from a person working for the FBI, the records show. Roberts also mentioned that he had seen the ricin in powder form.
From June through August, the militia group allegedly moved from plans to action, the documents show. Roberts said he knew a man named Sammy who might have access to the beans needed to make ricin. He also said Sammy was upset that the war against the government had not already started, the documents said.
In a Sept. 17 meeting at a Toccoa Waffle House, the FBI informant secretly recorded a meeting with Roberts. They drove separately to Adams’ home and met with Samuel Crump, a contractor who had done maintenance work for the Atlanta-based Centers for the Disease Control. Crump said he could make ricin, according to the search warrants.
“What I’d like to do is make, uh, about 10 pounds of that,” Crump said in the documents. “Put it out in different cities at the same time: Washington, D.C.; maybe Newark, N.J.; Atlanta, Ga.; Jacksonville, Fla.; New Orleans.”
The informant asked, “But what does it take to make it?”
Crump responded, “Just some seed. I got, uh, one more ingredient, and I’ll get it today.”
Crump, according to the documents, suggested a scenario for dispersing ricin in the Atlanta area.
“You throw it out there right on 285, you go up 41 or 75 — go up 75 to get away from it,” Crump said.
The CDC confirmed that Crump worked there for a contractor, and the Agriculture Department verified that Adams once was a lab tech.
On Oct. 6, at Adams’ home in Toccoa, the men discussed details for making the toxin, documents show. Crump told the informant that the ingredients were castor beans, acetone, lye and a mixer. Crump said they should buy the ingredients at different places, away from the area, and they should not search for them on the Internet because that could be tracked.
Days later, Thomas, Roberts, Crump and Adams met at Adams’ residence and discussed purchasing explosives. Crump and Adams walked to a shed, and the informant saw Adams show the other man a castor bean from a storage container about 2 feet by 1 1/2 feet by 10 inches in size, and almost full of beans, the search warrant showed.
Adams had laboratory equipment on the mantle in the main living room, including a condensing coil, y-clamp and a funnel, according to the search warrant.
About a week ago, at a secretly recorded meeting at Roberts’ home in Toccoa, Roberts told Crump that he was concerned that their plan to buy a silencer and C4 explosive devices was a “sting,” but that he was going to go forward with the purchase.
Roberts, who was called “Cobra” by the group, said he had cleared a room in his business workshop so they could train militia members.
Crump told the informant that he would be shelling the beans at his house in the upcoming week.
That same day, the informant also recorded a phone call he made to Thomas in which Thomas said if the supplier was working with the government, then he “was a dead man.”
Thomas and Roberts recently met with the supplier, who was working for the FBI, and handed over cash and a firearm in exchange for a silencer and what they believed were explosives, according to the criminal indictment.
When state and federal agents raided Adams’ and Crump’s homes, they found a cache of weapons, ingredients for a deadly toxin and explosive materials. From Crump, they seized a hazardous materials book, castor beans and “white powder in a cup,” according to the search warrant.
From Adams, they seized a machete in its sheath, toxic plant guides, instructions for making ricin, about a dozen guns, castor bean plants and two red buckets containing seed pods.
Adams also had a sign displaying the U.S. and it said, “Keep out or Die.”
About the Author
