The Michigan-based Christian militia group raided by the FBI over the weekend is preparing for battle with the Antichrist, according to a Web site purportedly run by the group.
“Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment,” Hutaree.com reads. “The only thing on earth to save the testimony and those who follow it, are the members of the testimony, til the return of Christ in the clouds. We, the Hutaree, are prepared to defend all those who belong to Christ and save those who aren’t. We will still spread the word, and fight to keep it, up to the time of the great coming.”
The “Doctrine of the Hutaree,” which is based on faith, according to the Web site, states that Christians should “stand firm in Christ and believe in him until our uttermost end. The testimony must by no means pass away and we must spread the word believing in Christ’s words, even during the end times.”
A two-minute video on the Web site depicts several camouflaged, armed men firing high-powered rifles as they move throughout open wilderness. At one point, three men can be seen firing weapons from behind a parked vehicle. Several other videos of the militia’s training activities, including one that has been viewed more than 21,000 times, can be found on its YouTube channel.
Michael Lackomar, a spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, told the Associated Press that one of his team leaders got a frantic phone call Saturday evening from members of Hutaree, which the Web site says means “Christian soldier.” The callers said their property in southeast Michigan was being raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Lackomar said.
“They said they were under attack by the ATF and wanted a place to hide,” Lackomar said. “My team leader said, ‘No thanks.”‘
FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold confirmed that the FBI had been working in two southeast Michigan counties near the Ohio state line, but she declined to indicate whether the raids were connected to Hutaree.
A message sent to the militia group by FoxNews.com seeking comment was not immediately returned early Monday.
According to the militia’s ranking system, members of the group can hold titles such as senior gunner, gold rifleman, “zulif” and “arkon.”
“Respect the officer above you and obey your commander with dignity,” the Web site reads. “Each man holds his place in flesh and spirit, heaven and earth.”
The Web site also includes links to Hutaree forums, a photograph of a patch for the Colonial Christian Republic and a red banner promoting a training session for April 24.
“Preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive,” the Web site reads. ” … Being Hutaree is to stay the Testimony of Christ alive, and follow a motto, John 15:13, ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.'”
Hutaree was named in a list of 512 so-called active “patriot” groups in the U.S. last year by the Southern Poverty Law Center in its spring intelligence report on extremist organizations. Of those groups, 127 were militias, including Hutaree. The remaining groups, according to SPLC, engage in “groundless conspiracy theorizing” or advocate anti-government doctrines.
