[CTRL] Book Ties McVeigh To White Supremacist

[William Shannon]

http://www.mcall.com/html/news/top/a_pg001a1_5mcveigh.htm Book says McVeigh, Alburtis man linked Supremacist group founded in Berks helped with Oklahoma bombing, criminologist writes. 06/22/01By ELLIOT GROSSMAN Of The Morning Call An Indiana State University criminologist -- claiming to have proof of a wider conspiracy -- is tying the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to Mark Thomas, who lived in the Alburtis area, and others who belonged to Thomas' group of white supremacists. Associates of Thomas may have helped Timothy McVeigh bomb the federal building in Oklahoma City, according to Professor Mark Hamm. And McVeigh may have helped Thomas and his Aryan Republican Army rob 22 banks in the Midwest to fund the ARA, Hamm said. McVeigh also met Thomas as early as December 1992, said Hamm, who spent the last three years researching the alleged connections for his book called "In Bad Company: America's Terrorist Underground." Due out in the fall, it is to be published by Northeastern University Press, Boston. For years, federal law enforcement officials have denied finding any connection between the Oklahoma City bombing and the ARA. Michael Schwartz, an assistant U.S. attorney in Philadelphia who prosecuted Thomas and several other ARA members, said federal officials never found evidence linking the ARA to the bombing. In particular, Schwartz said, "I can clearly tell you … that McVeigh had nothing to do with these bank robberies." Thomas, who's in prison, declined a request for an interview. Several years ago, Thomas denied participating in the 1995 bombing, but alleged that at least one ARA member was involved. In the early 1990s, Thomas helped form the ARA on his farm in Longswamp Township, Berks County, to spread his white supremacist, anti-government views. Thomas and several ARA associates are serving time in federal prisons for their roles in the bank robberies, which took place in the mid-90s. Rather than actively participating in the robberies, Thomas recruited ARA members and indoctrinated them with his views, according to Hamm. McVeigh, who was convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing with Terry Nichols, recently became the first federal prisoner to be executed in 38 years. But Hamm contends that as many as 10 others may have helped with the bombing by giving technical advice, helping to build and detonate the bomb and providing money from the bank robberies. Hamm, who also wrote a book about the Oklahoma City bombing, said he found connections the FBI missed by preparing separate time lines of the activities of McVeigh and the ARA for the years preceding the bombing. Hamm then overlaid the two time lines. "When I merge them, a pattern appears," said Hamm, who provided the merged time line to The Morning Call. Among its entries: McVeigh met Thomas possibly in December 1992, when Thomas was Imperial Chaplain of the Imperial Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. In March 1993, ARA member Peter Langan told an undercover police officer he wanted to bomb a federal building. Langan had extensive knowledge of explosives, the officer noted. In December 1993, McVeigh wrote a letter to his sister, indicating he is part of a group that believes the government should be overthrown and that robbing banks should be evaluated as a way to finance that objective. McVeigh may have served as a getaway driver for several ARA heists. In January 1995, Thomas, while visiting his ex-wife in the Alburtis area, made a comment to the effect: "We are going to hit one of their buildings, a federal building, during the day. That's when there will be the most casualties." By March 1995, for more than a year, the ARA had provided funding to McVeigh and Nichols and was to provide "tactical support" for the bombing. McVeigh was to carry out the deed and take the fall for the rest of the conspirators, confident in his belief of securing a place in "patriot history." The patterns were difficult to find, Hamm said, because the ARA modeled itself after the Irish Republican Army which uses secret independent units called cells. "This deliberate deception makes it difficult for any investigators to put the pieces together," Hamm said. Hamm said he also studied transcripts from the trials of McVeigh, Nichols and Langan. Hamm also obtained the unpublished, handwritten autobiography of ARA member Richard Guthrie, who killed himself in prison. And he interviewed about a dozen FBI agents. Hamm is one of many people who have put forward theories or research about a possible wider conspiracy in the bombing. In its bombing probe, the FBI circulated photos of a John Doe 2, an unidentified man who was seen but never arrested for helping with the bombing. For several years, there have been unconfirmed reports of connections between the bombing and the ARA. But Hamm said, "I believe I'm the first to do a comprehensive job of putting all the pieces together." J.D. Cash, a freelance reporter in Oklahoma who is considered an expert on the bombing story, said Hamm's work is well-researched. "This is not a theory," Cash said. Hamm "has the material to back it up." Cash said he hopes Hamm's book leads federal officials to check new leads into the bombing. "There has to be a re-opening of this case. We can't have people being left out of jail who could be involved in this," Cash said, referring to Thomas' co-defendants, whose prison terms are expiring. "The American people need to know the truth behind the largest mass murder in our history." Morning Call librarians Dianne Knauss and Ruth Burns helped with research for this story. Reporter Elliot Grossman