>>> In May 2003, white supremacists in Texas were caught with a sodium cyanide bomb, other bombs, illegal weapons, hate literature, fake I.D., and chemicals, including hydrochloric acid and nitric acid. In mid-November, three people pleaded guilty to related charges, while seized documents indicate that there are other co-conspirators at large. The feds have served "hundreds of subpoenas across the country," and the plot has been included in the President's daily intelligence briefings.

But most of us have never heard about it. The only media that saw fit to report about this terrorist plot within the US were a few newspapers and TV stations in Texas. The Web-based news outlet WorldNetDaily ran a story about it, but Google News shows that there hasn't been a word in the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, or any other big media outlet. Why have the media decided that this is a non-story? It's hard to say, but we can say with certainty that if Muslims had been caught with these weapons of mass destruction, fake I.D., gas masks, and books on making explosives, it would've been front-page news for days.

Below, we've collected every article about this ignored plot that we could find. All images come from CBS 11 in Dallas/Fort Worth.

Update: Seven months after the arrests and one month after the guilty pleas, the New York Times finally saw fit to mention this domestic terrorism case—in an opinion piece that spends three paragraphs on the incident [here]. Fortunately, the writer's central point is a good one:

Americans should question whether the Justice Department is making America's far-right fanatics a serious priority.... It is also worrisome that the discovery of lethal chemicals in President Bush's home state was not deemed occasion for a high-profile announcement by Attorney General John Ashcroft or other officials trumpeting the arrests of Mr. Krar and his compatriots. This stands in stark contrast to the department's news media onslaughts whenever alleged operatives for Al Qaeda have been apprehended in the United States.

On the downside, he doesn't mention the media's complicity by ignoring an extremely important story. Will the media only cover terrorism if Ashcroft mugs for the cameras about it? [16 Dec 2003]

World Socialist Website story | WorldNetDaily story | watch Texas TV news report at this page

check Google News for latest on William Krar

Nov 26, 2003, 3:30 pm US/Central
CBS 11, Dallas/Fort Worth [Link, includes video]
By Robert Riggs
With Investigative Producer Todd Bensman

Federal authorities this year mounted one of the most extensive investigations of domestic terrorism since the Oklahoma City bombing, CBS 11 has learned.

Three people linked to white supremacist and anti-government groups are in custody. At least one weapon of mass destruction - a sodium cyanide bomb capable of delivering a deadly gas cloud - has been seized in the Tyler area.

Investigators have seized at least 100 other bombs, bomb components, machine guns, 500,000 rounds of ammunition and chemical agents. But the government also found some chilling personal documents indicating that unknown co-conspirators may still be free to carry out what appeared to be an advanced plot. And, authorities familiar with the case say more potentially deadly cyanide bombs may be in circulation.

Since arresting the three people in May, federal agents have served hundreds of subpoenas across the country in a domestic terror investigation that made it onto President Bush’s daily intelligence briefings and set off national security alarms among the country’s most senior counter-terror officials.

William J. Krar, originally from New Hampshire, last week pleaded guilty in Tyler federal court to possession of a chemical weapon near the East Texas town of Noonday. He faces up to ten years in prison. His common-law wife, Judith Bruey, pleaded guilty to lesser weapons charges and faces up to five years in prison.

Also arrested this past Spring was Newark, New Jersey resident Edward Feltus. The New Jersey Militia member has pleaded guilty to attempting to purchase fake United Nations and Department of Defense identity cards from Krar.

All three have steadfastly maintained their silence, even though talking could reduce their prison sentences, and the investigation has stalled for now. Evidence seized and the fact that none of the defendants will talk has given rise to speculation that unknown conspirators may be still be involved in a broader plot to use Krar’s home-built chemical weapons, government officials say.

“One would certainly have to question why an individual would feel compelled to stockpile sodium cyanide, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, acetic acid, unless they had some bad intent,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Wes Rivers, who is prosecuting the case. “They certainly had the capacity to be extremely dangerous.”

Terrorism investigators suspect that Krar, who has paid no federal income taxes since 1988, made his living as a traveling arms salesman who pedaled illicit bomb components and other weapons to violent underground anti-government groups across the country.

Sources familiar with the investigation say authorities especially fear that Krar may have manufactured more than one sodium cyanide bomb and sold them. After a traffic stop earlier this year while Krar was traveling through Tennessee, state troopers seized sodium cyanide among other weapons, one government source confirmed.

During the same stop, troopers found notes in Krar’s car.

One of the notes titled “Trip” recommends, “You will need cash, pre-charged phone card, spare gas can and all planning in place.”

Another note titled “Procedure” appears to represent instructions for carrying out some kind of covert operation. It lists code words for cities where meetings can take place at motels. Other codes appear to be warnings about how close police might be to catching the plotters. “Lots of light storms are predicted,” for instance, means “Move fast before they look any harder. We have a limited window remaining.”

The same note goes on to recommend ways to divert pursuers and suggests, “We want all looking in the wrong direction.”

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, counter-terrorism agencies have been consumed by national efforts to ferret out U.S.-based foreign terrorist cells whose members hail from the Middle East. Federal investigators were not looking for white supremacist groups when they stumbled across Krar by accident.

He drew the FBI’s attention when he sent a package of counterfeit ID’s for the United Nations and Defense Intelligence Agency to Feltus’ New Jersey home earlier this year. The package was mistakenly delivered to a Staten Island man, who opened it and called police.

A note found inside and signed by Krar stated, “Hope this package gets to you O.K. We would hate to have this fall into the wrong hands.”

The discovery led to surveillance operations in and around Tyler, and then search warrants that turned up the Sodium cyanide bomb and other illegal weapons at locations controlled by Krar.

Little is known about Krar and Bruey.

Two years ago, the couple quietly set up business as a gun parts manufacturer at a remote storage locker in Noonday, Texas. Krar apparently has similarly operated his businesses under the radar for years in other states before coming to Texas. As he did in Tyler, Krar rented local post office boxes and storage units.

In one affidavit for a search warrant, an FBI agent noted that Krar was “actively involved in the militia movement…a good source of covert weaponry for white supremacist and anti-government militia groups in New Hampshire.”

Until now, the little town just south of Tyler was best known locally for the sweet onions grown there.

Teresa Staples, who owns the storage facility, said Krar pretended to buy and sell army surplus goods at flea markets. Only later, when FBI agents swarmed the place, did she learn that the surplus goods hid dangerous chemicals and weapons.

“Why did they pick such a small storage facility? Why did they pick this town, because I know they’re from up north,” she said. “How did they find us?”

This was not the first time that Krar has drawn the attention of federal investigators. In 1995, the ATF investigated Krar and another man on weapons charges. The other suspect told authorities at the time that he and Krar shared an abiding hatred of the federal government and had been planning to bomb government facilities, court records show. But the suspect later recanted the story about plotting terror attacks with Krar. Krar denied the allegation and was not arrested, according to records.

According to a more recent FBI affidavit, on the day of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, Krar raised suspicion at a New Hampshire storage unit he was renting. An employee called the FBI that day and reported that Krar was “wicked anti-American.”

While authorities work for a new break in the case, some counter-terrorism experts question whether the government might be overlooking dangers closer to home while fighting the War on Terror in the Middle East.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors domestic hate groups, says the number of openly violent groups dropped from more than 1,000 to about 100 after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing because of negative public sentiment. Groups that call East Texas home include the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations and Christian Identity.

In 1997, the Dallas FBI broke up a terror plot by members of the Ku Klux Klan to blow up a Wise County power plant.

Former Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Danny Coulson was involved in the nation’s first stand-offs with domestic anti-government groups and mounted some of the first intensive domestic terror investigations. He cautioned that authorities should take care not to forget about domestic groups while concentrating on foreign ones.

“It’s scary when you look at their capabilities,” he said. “Look at the vulnerabilities of our society. We don’t have to concern ourselves only with foreign terrorists, but we need to concern ourselves with domestic terrorists too. And these guys are very dangerous.”

(MMIII, Viacom Internet Services Inc. , All Rights Reserved)

FBI agents, tipped off last year by a cross-country mailout, raided a Noonday storage facility, where they found the chemicals and numerous firearms, as well as literature detailing the use of sodium cyanide to make a chemical weapon.

The literature described the making of highly toxic, poisonous cyanide gas, Assistant U.S. Attorney Wes Rivers said in court. Other materials found in the warehouse depicted white supremacist and militant beliefs, authorities said.

Krar faces 108 to 135 months in prison, according to federal sentencing guidelines and a plea bargain between Rivers and the defendant's attorney, Tonda Curry.

"You understand, you will probably go to prison for around 10 years," U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Guthrie told Krar, as he nodded in acknowledgement.

"I hope after you serve your time and are back in society, you'll find peace to be here," Judge Guthrie said.

Krar and co-defendant Judith Bruey, 54, who faces up to five years in federal prison, will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis after pre-sentence investigations by the U.S. probation office.

Ms. Bruey, also of Tyler, pleaded to information and waived indictment for conspiracy to possess machine guns, firearms not registered by the government and a 9 mm semi-automatic gun with an obliterated serial number, and the interstate transport of those weapons, as well as silencers for them. The defendant also agreed to give up 78 firearms and ammunition to the government.

Attorney Johnny Ward, sitting in for Ms. Bruey's court-appointed lawyer Eric Albritton, told the judge his client was told she faced 57 to 60 months in prison and is prepared for sentencing. When asked by Rivers, Ms. Bruey said she had intended "to accomplish the same purpose in the conspiracy" as Krar. She told Judge Guthrie that Krar never coerced her into conspiring with him.

"I hope that when this part of your life is over, the rest of your life is more productive and law-abiding," Judge Guthrie told Ms. Bruey.

A third co-defendant, Edward Feltus, 56, of New Jersey previously pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the transportation of false documents and also awaits sentencing. A batch of false documents Krar mailed to Feltus alerted federal agents who began investigating the trio last year.

The package contained false identification documents, including North Dakota and Vermont birth certificates, a Social Security card, a Defense Intelligence Agency ID and a United Nations Multinational Force ID card.

Federal agents intercepted the package after it accidentally ended up at a household in Staten Island, N.Y.

On Thursday, Matthew Orwig, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, complimented the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Defense Department Criminal Investigative Service.

"We live in a safer world because of the efforts of these agencies," Orwig said.

Anne Wright covers Smith County government and courts. She can be reached at 903.596.6284. e-mail: news@tylerpaper.com

©Tyler Morning Telegraph 2003

New Details In Cyanide Bomb Investigation

KLTV, 12/12/03 - Tyler - Link

New information tonight concerning a man who recently pled guilty in federal court to possession of a dangerous chemical weapon. We're just learning about details of the investigation so threatening to public safety, that President Bush was given daily briefings on the matter. Nestled away just twelve miles south of Tyler, the town of Noonday on Highway 155 was an ideal hiding place for William Krar. He and his common law wife worked out of Noonday Storage, whose owner thought the couple made money selling odds and ends.

"They worked here most of the day," said Teresa Staples, "but what we saw them unloading was clothing, swimsuits and garden tools."

So, when authorities showed up last April and searched Krar's storage unit in Noonday, what was found shocked everyone.

"This was a huge arsenal," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston, "absolutely a huge arsenal of military style weapons."

Found in Noonday were hundreds of bombs and machine guns, and 500,000 rounds of ammunition. The inventory list of what was found is extensive. But the most startling discovery was the combination of sodium cyanide, acid and gunpowder. Mixed together it becomes a lethal chemical bomb capable of killing everyone inside a 30,000 square foot building. Authorities believed Krar a threat to national security, suspecting him of being a part of a "criminal scheme" to violently attack the U.S. Government.

"We have yet to figure out the actual destination of any of these bombs or any of the devices," said Featherston, "but I don't think you possess these weapons for defensive reasons."

Federal authorities admit they might never have caught onto Krar had it not been for a mistaken delivery. According to an affidavit, Krar sent a package to New Jersey full of fake id's. The box never made it to the right person. Instead it ended up in Staten Island, New York, where someone else opened up the package and found a note inside that said, 'hope this package gets to you ok, we would hate to have this fall into the wrong hands'. tTat person called police. The man who was supposed to get that package in New Jersey has also been arrested. So has Krar's common law wife. Court records suggest these three were white supremacists and involved in anti-government groups. Krar's attorney says there's no proof the 60-year-old man was part of a sinister conspiracy, and that he owned many of the weapons legally.

"I don't believe the government has any direct evidence that says there was a plot or plan to perform any act of terrorism towards the United States," said Tyler attorney Tonda Curry.

Authorities aren't so sure. One of the documents Krar was found traveling with was this paper with instructions on how to allude authorities.

"You don't know what's going through these people's minds," added Featherston. "We wish we did know what was going through their minds because that would make all of us feel a little better."

Krar is reportedly not cooperating with authorities in naming possible unknown conspirators. Which raises questions over how many others are involved, and still out there, and whether or not Krar may have made more than one sodium cyanide bomb and sold them. Krar remains in the Smith County jail, waiting to be sentenced. His lawyer says part of the agreement in exchange for his guilty plea means he will not be prosecuted for anything else in connection with this arrest.

Tyler resident admits having chemical weapons

Associated Press, in Fort Worth Star-Telegram [Link]
Posted on Thu, Nov. 13, 2003

TYLER, Texas - A 62-year-old Tyler man pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of possessing a dangerous chemical weapon after investigators discovered the components needed to make lethal cyanide gas at a storage facility he rented.

William J. Krar was charged with possessing sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical. Investigators also found strong acids in Krar's storage facility, which, when mixed with sodium cyanide, form extremely lethal cyanide gas, the U.S. Attorney's office said in a release.

Krar's co-defendant, Judith L. Bruey, 54, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess illegal weapons.

Prosecutors said they found a large quantity of sodium cyanide and hydrochloric, nitric and acetic acids in the storage room Krar shared with Bruey.

Investigators also found numerous illegal firearms, literature detailing the use of sodium cyanide to make a chemical weapon and literature depicting white supremacist and militant beliefs, the Tyler Morning Telegraph reported in its Friday editions.

Investigators found the chemicals and other materials in April while investigating Krar on an unrelated incident in which a package he mailed to an address in New Jersey was accidentally delivered to a residence in Staten Island, N.Y., in January 2002. The package contained false identification documents and was reported to authorities.

Krar faces nine to 11 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Bruey faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

FBI Reveals Guns, Chemicals, Fake ID's

Tyler Morning Telegraph/April 14, 2003 [Link]
By Angela Macias

A Tyler man accused of selling false identification cards and keeping suspicious materials in a local storage facility will remain in jail pending his trial.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Harry McKee ordered William J. Krar, 62, to be detained after hearing testimony from an FBI agent regarding the defendant's questionable activities, including the alleged sale of fake United Nations Multinational Force Observer and Defense Intelligence Agency identification cards.

Last week's search of a Noonday storage facility frequented by Krar unearthed multiple containers of chemicals and prompted local officials to contact agents in Washington, D.C.

Authorities believe they found nitric acid in the storage unit. A package labeled sodium cyanide and several other chemicals could not be positively identified, said FBI Special Agent Bart LaRocca. Sodium cyanide could be mixed with acid to produce a deadly gas, he said.

Ten containers were taken back to Washington for further examination and won't be confirmed until later this week, he said.

Machine guns, more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition, pipe bomb materials, binary explosives and reading materials, including "The Turner Diaries," "Anarchist Cookbook" and articles from white supremacist groups, were also found in the storage unit, LaRocca said.

A search of a U-Haul truck found at Krar's home on Oak Spring Road also led authorities to more guns, a silencer, powder sodium cyanide and blank identification forms. Despite finding the unusual items, agents don't believe Krar was planning to commit terrorism, LaRocca said.

"I have no specifics of a plot," he said.

Defense attorney Greg Waldron attempted to show the weapons and military-related materials were used in Krar's business.

Krar runs IDC America, which makes gun parts and sells weapons. Although agents monitoring a mailbox rented by Krar's employee found legitimate business transactions being made, the defendant hasn't reported an income to the Internal Revenue Service since 1988, LaRocca said.

Authorities began watching the Tyler mailbox used by Krar after a package allegedly intended for a New Jersey militia member landed in other person's hands.

A parcel containing bogus birth certificates, a social security card, United Nations Multina-tional Force Observer and Defense Intelligence Agency identification cards were delivered to the wrong person, who notified police, LaRocca said.

Enclosed with the items was a letter allegedly from Krar, which read, "hope this package gets to you okay, we would hate to have this fall into the wrong hands," according to court documents.

The militia member told authorities he sent photos of himself to Krar. Krar then created the false documents for the militia member, an affidavit states.

Authorities seized a computer they believe Krar used to created the fake forms of identification. They are analyzing the hardware, LaRocca said.

Suspicious activity involving Krar has been noticed by officers around the country.

A Tennessee state trooper found atropine injections, a nerve gas antidote, on Krar when the defendant was arrested in January.

Marijuana, various weapons, a false birth certificate and credit card issued to "William Franco" also were found in his rental car. Notes detailing what authorities believed could be a covert operation were also discovered, according to court documents.

Krar told authorities the notes were to help his girlfriend escape her ex-husband. He also dismissed the fake certificate, saying it was made as a joke.

The credit card was issued under his mother's last name, because Krar didn't want salesmen to harass him, court documents state.

A fire in a New Hampshire storage locker led officers to Krar, who had weapons and ammunition stored there, court documents state.

An employee with another New Hampshire storage facility Krar stored items in described him as "wicked anti-American," an affidavit states.

"She said Krar used to say things to her such as the United States government was corrupt and he hated the United States government and all of the cops," court documents state.

Before Krar moved to Texas, federal agents in New Hampshire noticed known militia members frequenting his business.

LaRocca said Krar was holding militia meetings there. But on cross-examination, LaRocca said Krar's relations with militia member may be related to business since they are usually associated with the purchase of weapons.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Wes Rivers said he would present Krar's case to a grand jury in May.

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