Hutaree members/southern poverty law center photo
DETROIT — From the get-go, defense attorneys had insisted the high-profile federal case in downtown Detroit against Michigan militia members was extremely weak. And they predicted it would result in an embarrassment for the government.
They were right.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts dismissed conspiracy charges against all seven defendants of the Hutaree militia, concluding, as the defense had suggested all along, that there was not enough evidence that the group plotted to revolt against the government and kill a cop and commit other violence, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Gun charges against two members remained in a case developed by the FBI through an undercover agent and informant.
“We’re just grateful to Judge Roberts for having the courage to do the right thing …very few judges have that kind of courage,” said one defense attorney Michael Rataj,according to the Free Press. “There was no case. There was no conspiracy.”
In his opinion, according to the Free Press, Roberts wrote: “The evidence is not sufficient for a rational factfinder to find that defendants came to a concrete agreement to forcibly oppose the authority of the government of the United States as charged in the indictment.”
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