Those who regularly travel that 30-mile section of I-20 know that it is a rare thing not to see one or more Louisiana State Troopers writing speeding tickets (they hide in the median, amongst the pine trees and sometimes have spotters on overpasses -- even been known to use radar-equipped helicopters).
But what very few people know (even the citizens of Ouachita Parish) is what went down in Calhoun a few weeks ago. Some, if they read the Monroe or Shreveport papers, may think they know, but if they relied on newspaper reporting they only got part of the story. The story didn't run on the wire services. It was a pretty bland story as stories about conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery go.
And a pretty bland Department of Justice press release.
April 29, 2005
Monroe, Louisiana . . . A federal grand jury in Shreveport has returned an indictment charging MORRIS LYNN GULETT, age 49, of Calhoun, Louisiana, and CHARLES SCOTT THORNTON, age 23, of Piedmont, Alabama, with conspiring to commit armed bank robbery, United States Attorney Donald W. Washington announced today. GULETT and THORNTON are scheduled to be arraigned in United States District Court in Monroe on May 6, 2005, at 9:00 a.m.
GULETT and THORNTON were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery; one count of conspiracy to possess, carry and use a firearm to rob a bank; one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; and one count of forfeiture of a firearm.
The indictment alleges that between April 8 and April 21, 2005, GULETT directed THORNTON to leave the State of Louisiana and travel to the State of Alabama to locate a bank to rob. It is also alleged in the indictment that GULETT, who is a convicted felon, and THORNTON had numerous firearms in their possession, including two SKS semi-automatic rifles, a Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun, and a Firestorm .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol.
What's not in the news stories or press releases is that Morris Gulett is a leader in the Aryan Nations and a Christian Identity pastor --
nor are there details about his felony conviction: in 1997, he rammed a Dayton, Ohio police department cruiser with his van. He was charged with two counts of felonious assault on a police officer.
The Moody Aryan
Intelligence Report, Southern Poverty Law Center
Morris L. Gulett, 48 | DAYTON, Ohio
Vietnam veteran Mo Gulett has been associated with the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations* for many years, almost all of them as a lieutenant of Ray Redfeairn (see The Cop-Shooter), the long-time Ohio state leader who became famous in the movement for shooting a police officer repeatedly but failing to kill him (see Death's Door). Gulett had his own violent run-in with police on March 2, 1997, when officers spotted him heading his van the wrong way down a one-way street.
In a 12-mile chase that finally ended in the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek, Gulett crashed his vehicle into a police cruiser, tried to run one officer off the road and attempted to run down another officer. In the end, he crashed and his van landed in a creek. Later, Gulett would say he fled because he didn't have a driver's license and, anyway, he "was just in one of those moods." He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault on a police officer.
He faced up to twenty years in prison, but a plea bargain allowed him to serve only about a year.
After his release in 2000, Gulett moved to Calhoun, LA and became the Louisiana Aryan Nations leader. (see MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base)
Shortly after his arrival in Calhoun, Gulett founded the Church of the Sons of YHVH / Legion of Saints. (Warning: this link takes you to Gulett's website.) The church is internet-based, complete with streaming (screaming) audio of Pastor Gulett's hate-filled rants against anybody who is not white and whites who do not accept the Christian Identity faith. He reserves his most venomous attacks for Jews and Blacks and Catholics. He just barely refrains from crossing the "Kill 'Em All" line -- just barely. He can hardly contain himself as he preaches his hate. (The FBI imaged (copied) his harddrives -- hopefully, they can use what they find to bolster their case against him).
The Aryan Nations splintered into various sub-groups after two major setbacks: the successful SPLC case, Keenan v. Aryan Nations, against the Aryan Nations in 2000 and the death of its founder, Richard Butler, in September 2004.
Since then, leaders of various white supremacist groups, have been "campaigning" to become the new leader of the Aryan Nations and to rebuild it. Until his arrest by the FBI this past April, Morris Gulett seemed poised to do just that. It appeared to me that he was winning "the hearts and minds" of the majority of sub-groups. Self-proclaimed Aryan Nations leader August Kreis would probably disagree.
Gulett's arrest has thrown the Aryan Nations into further disarray, but Gulett is not done. From his jail cell at the West Monroe Correction Center, Gulett seems to have appointed an acting senior pastor for the Church of the Sons of YHVH / Legion of Saints, and ordained two new ministers, one of whom is Martin Lindstedt -- Warning: this link takes you to Lindstedt's website -- a nutcase familiar to Missouri residents. Shortly after his promotion to minister, Lindstedt was arrested for first degree statutory sodomy (sex act with a child under the age of 12).
And evidently, Gulett is also issuing instructions on how best to proceed with the Church's business, to include:
- keeping morale up: "What I do want is for the Church of the Sons of YHVH / Legion of Saints to continue the most important work we have embarked upon. It must continue and not fall by the wayside. The Jews and their ZOG agents fear our work or they would not have me where I am" (ZOG = Zionist Occupation Government)
- administration of the church's website: "I need to get the website in secure hands...Right now the website is paid up for the next 2 - 3 months so we have a little time in that respect. It only costs $20 per month for the site not including the Radio portion..."
- church snailmail: "She (Gulett's mother) does have the key to the P.O. Box and has been retreiving the Mail. I do not think ZOG can touch the mail but will check with my lawyer." (Yeah, Gulett, age 49, lived with his mama in Calhoun, LA)
- church bank account: "The Church bank account to the best of my knowledge is still in tact and the Pay Pal account at the web site should still be intact also. I will be maintaining control of the bank account just as I will be ownership and control of the church website as you suggested. However we may need to make some sort of provisions for a second person besides myself to have access to the bank account and Pay Pal for Church expenditures"
NOTE: the quotes above are supposedly from Gulett's snailmail -- they can be found at the church's forum. You've been warned.
So while Gulett may be going to prison for a long time, succession has already begun.
Yet another troubling thing about these white supremacists is their proclivity to reach out to Islamofascists, a point that is certainly not lost on the FBI. I'm not aware of any evidence that the Aryans have met with al-Qaeda, but I would not be the least bit surprised to learn that they have.
There are hundreds of hate groups out there. Some are more active than others, but they're all bad for America.
Thankfully the FBI and state and local law enforcement are aided by such organizations as the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League and the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism. While I do not necessarily share some of their politics (for example Morris Dees can fairly be called liberal), I applaud their efforts in helping our nation live up to its highest ideals.
And oh by the way, Calhoun, Louisiana is not a bad place. It's pretty countryside and good people live there (spread out a bit, probably a neighbor every 1/2 mile). They just had a venomous snake coiled up in a shack out on Zodie Sims Road and didn't know it.