Terror Conviction

On Nov. 28 a terrorist was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison. United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, where the terrorist was prosecuted, tells Salon that "It was one of the preeminent anti-terrorism cases of 2006 nationwide." Why wasn't this front page news? This guy had plans, explosives and the ability to explode a bomb in Washington. Could the reason be this guys name was Demetrius "Van" Crocker, a white guy who thought Timothy McVeigh "[did] things right. He was caught and convicted the old fashioned way and no waterboarding was needed, just good police work. There have been numerous similar cases where non-Muslims are caught and convicted with no news coverage. If this guy was brown EVERYBODY would know his name and his trial would have been covered 24/7 by Nancy Grace. The story is at Salon: The terrorist you've never heard of According to court documents, the investigation of Demetrius Crocker began in early 2004, around the time he told a man named Lynn Adams that Timothy McVeigh "[did] things right." Adams, who had met the Mississippi-born farmhand through a mutual acquaintance, began to hear from Crocker about his plans for mass murder. A resident of rural Carroll County, Tenn., an hour northeast of Memphis, Crocker told Adams he wanted to kill the black population of nearby Jackson, Tenn., with mustard gas and explode a bomb outside a courthouse. By then, Adams had learned a lot about Crocker's background: his previous membership in the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement, his anti-government beliefs, his fascination with Adolf Hitler and idolization of Oklahoma City bomber McVeigh. "Fuck them. Let God sort them out," Crocker said when Adams asked if he was worried about killing innocent women and children. Crocker, meanwhile, hadn't learned nearly as much about Adams. He didn't know, for example, that Adams was a former sheriff's deputy and a confidential informant for the Carroll County drug task force. At first, Adams didn't take Crocker seriously, but as their relationship progressed, Adams began believing Crocker was more than just talk.