Friday, May 16, 2008

Cyanide Case Reveals Underpinning of Domestic Extremism

Readers of the Rising Hegemon will remember that in the past I have commented on the Texas case of the then 63 year old William Krar.  Krar was sentenced in 2004 to eleven years in prison for his plans to use cyanide in a domestic terrorist plot. It is important to note that Krar has been connected to several violent domestic extremists in the racist Christian Identity movement.

While Krar was arrested with a relatively small inventory of cyanide it was never resolved whether he had a lot more or shared it with others so inclined to use it.

Now comes a somewhat similar case also in Texas except that the suspect was trying to selling cyanide to someone to get money for meth.  The "buyer" was an undercover FBI agent.  Whether the effort to get meth was for use or to be sold to make money to support extremist efforts, we still do not know.

This case has produced some candid remarks to the media about the likelihood of domestic terrorist attacks from experts.  Many of these domestic terrorists would be more likely to use sarin rather than cyanide.  And while it is not any secret that sarin gas is easy to produce, little attention is being paid to prevent the creation of the poison.  Sarin was used in a terrorist attack in Tokyo in 1995 and is easily distributed in an urban area. 

At the time of the 2004 Krar case it was widely discussed that turning the cyanide that Krar had into a weapon merely requires the presence of a strong acid which can be purchased at an industrial supply house.

It is a mistake to overlook the efforts of racist domestic extremists.

No comments: