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Police alert for Y2K terrorism Militia: Members will be in bed New Year's Eve By JEFF BARNARD The Associated Press GRANTS PASS -- Based on an FBI report, police around Oregon will be out in force New Year's Eve on special alert for militiamen, white supremacists and apocalyptic cults as well as the normal drunken drivers. But Carl Worden, intelligence officer for the Southern Oregon Militia, says officers have nothing to worry about from militiamen. They'll be home in bed. "Our information is that most everybody will be staying home, locking the door, and hoping the lights are still on in the morning," Worden said from his hilltop home in Eagle Point. The FBI's 92 agents in Oregon will be on alert, as will state, county and local police around the state. The Josephine County Sheriff's Department, for example, has canceled days off to put triple the normal patrols on the road New Year's Eve, just in case. "Unfortunately, with this type of event, you can't anticipate what is going to happen," said Josephine County sheriff's Lt. Brian Anderson. "All you can do is make your best plans with the resources you have." Last fall, the FBI produced the Project Megiddo report, named for an ancient city in Israel that is the root of the word Armageddon. It warns that when calendars turn to the year 2000, extremist groups and individuals that place some special significance on the New Millennium may "present challenges to law enforcement at many levels." The report notes that some religious groups believe that the Y2K computer bug is a sign the apocalypse is approaching. Some white supremacist organizations believe widespread technological failures would provide the perfect opportunity for a race war. And some militias fear the United Nations has a secret plan to conquer the world and impose a "new world order." "So everyone is like, `OK, we will be prepared,' whether it is the lights going out, computers shutting down, (or) activities that people might take upon themselves," said Special Agent Gordon Compton, spokesman for the FBI's Portland bureau. "The militias have been cooperating fairly well with us, trying to put that report together," he added. "A lot of them don't want any violence or anything to occur, either. It doesn't do them any good that some of these extremists may take it upon themselves to take action." Noting the Oklahoma City bombing was carried out by just two people, the report said the trend in domestic terrorism was toward smaller groups, making them that much harder to detect. A pair of real-life scenarios unfolded recently in California and Washington. Last week, U.S. Customs Service agents in Port Angeles, Wash., arrested an Algernian who arrived on a ferry from Victoria, British Columbia, with bomb-making materials in the trunk of his rental car. The week before in California, federal agents arrested two men, alleging they plotted to use a fertilizer bomb to blow up propane tanks in suburban Sacramento. Affidavits filed by federal investigators alleged members of the San Juaquin County Militia wanted to push the federal government to declare martial law, spurring the public to throw in with the militia in a general revolution. Portland State University sociologist Randy Blazak, who studies militias, said he wouldn't be surprised to see something blow up in the Northwest, which has more than its share of anti-government groups. "The militia members I have talked to have taken all their money out of banks, they're stockpiling food, and are really excited about Y2K," said Blazak. "When I talk to them about Y2K, they get this gleam in their eyes like this will be their opportunity. "While none of them tell me they are going to blow things up, I see the excitement they have that there might be some chaos or social collapse that will give them a chance to put their foot in the door." Worden, who has a financial consulting business, said the Southern Oregon Militia counts 200 members in Jackson County and 600 in Josephine County, all of whom will be ready if the New Year brings a computer collapse that shuts down electric utilities, telephones, and banking. "Anybody who is paying any attention to it at all has 300 or 400 pounds of beans and rice each, water filters, things like that,'' Worden said. Rather than fomenting violence, the Southern Oregon Militia would be guarding against it, he added. Worden said they were established to defend against the kind of rioting that erupted in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdicts. But they are thinking of changing their name, because their focus is now on exposing corruption, rather than preparing for armed conflict. The Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity in Seattle tries to keep an eye on the activities of Oregon's militias, a Ku Klux Klan group in Grants Pass, Nazi-skinheads in Eugene, the Christian Patriot Association in Boring, and the Medford Citizens Bar Association. "The situation with the militia, the Klan, and radical Christian patriots is that they are always prepared for some sort of chaos, or that's their line," said research director Jonn Lunsford. "If it happens to be Y2K, then that wouldn't be any different than some other catastrophe the government would have." PSU sociologist Blazak noted the no-protest zone Seattle police created during last month's violent protests over the World Trade Organization meetings could be interpreted as evidence the government had few qualms about suspending at least the First Amendment of the Constitution. "I hate to be alarmist, but this is a golden opportunity for these people," Blazak said of Y2K. "I fear some will get through the attempts of federal and local law enforcement to prevent these kinds of things. "Personally, I'll be spending New Year's Eve in the middle of the desert hiking." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA