Isaac Aguigui: the Republican Convention soldier who plotted to murder Obama
WHAT do we know about Isaac Aguigui, a US Army private accused of plotting to murder Barack Obama? He would then “take over” Ft. Stewart in Georgia.
His group is alleged to have numbered Sgt. Anthony Peden, Pvt. Christopher Salmon, Pfc. Michael Burnet. Also under arrest for murder is Salmon’s wife, Heather Salmon.
Aguigui worked as a page at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota. He was arrested for the alleged murder of Pvt. Michael Roark who he, reportedly, thought would ruin the plan.
Prosecutors say Roark, 19, served with the four defendants in the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and became involved with the militia.
Aguigui appears in a Reuters photo captioned:
“Republican National Convention page Isaac Aguigui watches from the edge of the floor at the start of the first session of the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota September 1, 2008.”
Police Sgt. John Kruse has ns of woman who had suspicions about Aguigui:
The woman told police that Aguigui’s wife had died in July 2011 under suspicious circumstances, and the soldier had bought 15 firearms from a store in Wenatchee while on leave from the military. Kruse said police checked the report and confirmed Aguigui had purchased 15 firearms, including some semi-automatic rifles, and did so legally. As a precaution, police contacted the Army’s criminal investigation division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, which confirmed there was an open investigation regarding the wife’s death, Kruse said.
Aguigui received around $500,000 insurance settlement after the death of his pregnant wife.
The Associated Press says one man has confessed. Pfc. Michael Burnett has pleaded guilty to the murders of Roark and Roark’s 17-year-old girlfriend, Tiffany York.
Burnett told a Long County judge that Roark, who had just left the Army, knew of the militia group’s plans and was killed because he was “a loose end.”
Prosecutor Isabel Pauley says the group bought $87,000 worth of guns and bomb-making materials and plotted to take over Fort Stewart, bomb targets in nearby Savannah and Washington state, as well as assassinate the president.
Aguigui and his mates were called F.E.A.R. – Forever Enduring, Always Read:
[Prosecutor Isabel Pauley] said Aguigui used the money to buy $87,000 worth of semiautomatic assault rifles, other guns and bomb components that were recovered from the accused soldiers’ homes and from a storage locker. He also used the insurance payments to buy land for his militia group in Washington state, Pauley said.
In a videotaped interview with military investigators, Pauley said, Aguigui called himself “the nicest cold-blooded murderer you will ever meet.” He used the Army to recruit militia members, who wore distinctive tattoos that resemble an anarchy symbol, she said. Prosecutors say they have no idea how many members belong to the group.
“All members of the group were on active-duty or were former members of the military,” Pauley said. “He targeted soldiers who were in trouble or disillusioned.”
The prosecutor said the militia group had big plans. It plotted to take over Fort Stewart by seizing its ammunition control point and talked of bombing the Forsyth Park fountain in nearby Savannah, she said. In Washington state, she added, the group plotted to bomb a dam and poison the state’s apple crop. Ultimately, prosecutors said, the militia’s goal was to overthrow the government and assassinate the president.
How nice? On Twitter @a_girl_irl posted this clip says this is Isaac Aguigui:
Photo: U.S. Army Sgt. Anthony Peden, 25, left, and Pvt. Isaac Aguigui, 19 are led away in handcuffs after appearing before a magistrate judge at the Long County Sheriffs Office Monday, Dec. 12, 2011 in Ludowici, Ga. Four Fort Stewart soldiers have been denied bond on charges connected to the killings of a former serviceman and a teenager in Long County. Two fishermen found the bodies of 20-year-old Michael Roark and 17-year-old Tiffany York on Dec. 6, the day after investigators believe they were killed. (AP Photo/Lewis Levine)
Posted: 29th, August 2012 | In: Politicians Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
