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American Morning

Freeman Crusher Discusses Group Project Seven

Aired March 01, 2002 - 08:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now there's a different war on terror in Montana. A militia group called Project Seven is suspected of plotting some homegrown terrorism. The group's alleged mastermind, 38-year old David Bergert, and his girlfriend, Tracy Brockway, are in custody this morning. Now authorities yesterday uncovered a huge cash of weapons and ammunition stored in trailers near the town of Kalispell, along with a suspected hit list targeting local and state government officials.

In 1996, you might remember another Montana militia group the Freemen engaged in an 81-day standoff with the FBI and former Army Green Beret Commander Col. Bo Gritz helped bring that siege to an end, and he joins us now from Las Vegas this morning.

Nice to have you back with us sir. Welcome.

COL. BO GRITZ (RET.), FORMER GREEN BERET COMMANDER: Hey, Paula. Hello, good morning, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It's all right to do that isn't it? As long as we don't say ...

ZAHN: Hey listen ...

GRITZ: ... "Good Morning America" or ...

ZAHN: ... yes, yes, if you get up at this hour in the morning, you can say hello to whoever you want to. So, Bo, let's come back to these arrests yesterday. How serious were they about carrying out their mission?

GRITZ: I don't personally know Mr. David Bergert, but I do know a lot of people who know him and they say he's a mystery, a reprobate that has blown a traffic ticket literally into what may end up being about a 40-year jail term if all that they say is true about him. He's a talker. He has about less than 10 listeners and he is a man who, for example, had his neighbors collect money for his bail, then he jumped bail, then he disappeared.

And while his parents drove out from Alabama and his wife and children had no food, had no way to pay bills, he was shacked up with this Ms. Brockway, and then he was found, and when they did arrest him, he did have one weapon, a weapon he had modified, a fired full automatic, pointed at his head. It's too bad he didn't pull the trigger out there on a snow bank. And so, he is a person that they say probably would have never done anything, but when you look at past recent history, you've got to treat these guys as if they mean what they say, and I think he's exactly where he should be, and I think he ought to stay there.

ZAHN: Do you have any idea where he got his inspiration from? Because as I'm hearing you talk and ...

GRITZ: Thank you.

ZAHN: ... more of these details emerge, it almost sounds like it's straight out of "The Turner Diaries," which was that book that influenced Timothy McVeigh.

GRITZ: Thank you, Paula, for mentioning that. Mostly these people are, I believe, are stupid and ignorant. They look for leadership, it's better than getting a job and working for a living. And in this case, he did have a job, but not a good one and not for very long. He was into storage units and this kind of thing.

But William Pierce, if we ever get around to prosecuting people for criminal syndicalism, meaning that if someone commits a crime, a real crime, from what you say or encourage them, or if written for them to do, then you're guilty. William Pierce, who runs the National Alliance on a Web site, he's the author or the actual author of "Turner Diaries," and another one called "The Hunter," wherein both of these are good Americans.

They both end up committing all kinds of crimes in order to bring down the evil empire of the federal government. These guys have to realize, Paula, that you cannot break the law to keep the law, if you are a true constitutionalist. He, Bergert, and I guess his mentor, William Pierce, both talk about the constitution, but they're both preaching anarchy. The only thing worst than bad government is no government at all. Take a look at Afghanistan.

ZAHN: Yes, before -- we don't have time to go talk about Afghanistan right now, but before we let you go, your assessment on the impact that 9/11 has had on the growth of these movements by people who are so much inspired by "The Turner Diaries."

GRITZ: I'm praying, and this is the way I sense the body politic of the patriot movement, the militia movement, whatever you would label it, 9/11 shocked them as much as it did every other American. They're outraged. They're angry. I think that everyone in the movement is actually proud, even though they may not say it, of Jr. Bush in the way that he's handled this thing and not gone berserk and corporate bombed and brought other retribution upon the United States.

I trained the Afghan, and I understand the holy Quran, and if you leave the Muslims alone, they're going to leave you alone basically. And I believe that all Americans, the patriot movement, they have been, if not actively passively applauding and in support of the cooperative things we've had to do to get along under this war on terrorism. ZAHN: All right, we're going to have to leave it there this morning, and the next time you can come back and we'll let you say hello to even more people, if you would like Bo.

GRITZ: Thank you.

ZAHN: Always good to have you on our show. Bo Gritz joining us from Las Vegas where it's very early there this morning.

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