Militia Leader
Killed, Deputy Wounded During Attempted Arrest
Associated Press/The Arizona Republic Nov. 06, 2001 12:20:00
(Posted here by Wes Penre for
Illuminati News, October 8, 2004)
EAGAR
- A national leader of the militia movement has been killed and an Apache County
sheriff's deputy wounded in a shootout, authorities said.
William Milton Cooper, 58, of Eager, had hosted a talk show broadcast on the
Worldwide Christian Radio out of Nashville, which receives it via phone from his
home in St. Johns. He had millions of listeners
worldwide, including Timothy McVeigh.
The deputy, whose name was being withheld by authorities, was shot twice in the
head while trying to arrest Cooper, a state Department of Public safety
spokesman said today. Cooper was killed by another officer.
Several deputies were attempting to arrest Cooper, who was armed with a handgun,
said Officer Steve Volden, a spokesman for the DPS, which was investigating the
shooting.
He said details of the shooting would be released later today.
The deputy was in critical condition at a Phoenix hospital early today, Volden
said.
Cooper was one of the most widely known prophets of the "patriot movement,"
railing at the federal government and talking of doomsday omens in his radio
broadcast.
McVeigh, who was executed in May for the bombing of the federal building in
Oklahoma City, listened to Cooper's broadcasts for inspiration, according to
testimony by James Nichols, brother of Oklahoma
bombing co-defendant Terry Nichols during a 1996 pretrial hearing.
Like some other patriot leaders, Cooper refused to get a driver's license or pay
federal income taxes, saying he is willing to risk getting ticketed and has
found a legal way to avoid the taxes.
The patriot movement grew during the 1990s, fed by a series of news events - the
siege of Randy Weaver in Idaho, the raid on the Branch Davidians near Waco,
Texas and the signing of gun-control laws.
Updated/Revised:
Monday, May 02, 2005 05:01:43 -0700
