Creep of the Week - July 6, 1996

Mug shots of the 12 Viper Militia members

The Viper Militia

If you grew up American and male, you probably used to play war games. Depending on your age, those games would have involved Cowboys vs. Indians, Cops vs. Robbers, Americans vs. The Japs & The Krauts, or Americans vs. The Gooks. Sometimes you might have rounded up a few of the neighborhood girls or someone's sister to play along. I remember building forts where we'd await the enemy and make up some scary sounding name for our side like "The Killers" or "The Warriors". For most of us, war games belong to the fond memories of our frivolous youth, when life was simple and carefree. We grew up and went on to more significant (if less fun) pursuits.

Most of us. The Viper Militia, the group of twelve Arizonans whose mug shots are featured above, evidently didn't make the cut during graduation to adulthood. This week they were arrested for plotting to blow up buildings housing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the FBI, the IRS, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Secret Service, the Phoenix Police Department and the Arizona National Guard. There was no word on what they planned to do to Charles Barkley.

All their plans and their practice bombings out in the desert were captured on a set of video tapes they made, which they hoped to be the first sit-com on the air after the government overthrow, or what they call "Armageddon." And to top it all off, they came up with a really scary name for their group that puts "The Killers" to shame. What's their defense? They were merely playing war games. Just a friendly game of Americans vs. Authority using real bombs.

Besides their name, what's really scary about this group is that with a couple of exceptions, they look pretty normal. Even the girl members they rounded up look pretty good (especially when compared to The Freemen's women). How does one tell the difference these days between people who are yelling about getting rid of all incompetent government agencies and those who actually want to GET RID of them? It sure was a lot easier when the other side had to wear feathers and war paint.

Let me know what you think at montgome@servtech.com

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