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A BAND of ultra-religious paramilitary zealots have barricaded
themselves into a dusty Texas compound with several children and an
arsenal of guns, vowing to die before they will surrender to police.
The standoff is taking place just 70 miles from Waco, and the memory
of the 1993 siege in which 80 Branch Davidians and their leader David
Koresh died explains why the authorities have so far proceeded with
extreme caution in handling a situation that could lead to another
bloodbath.
Inside the 47-acre compound, near Trinidad, in east Texas, are 16
people, including seven children, led by John Joe Gray, a self-styled
militia "colonel" and a member of the Oregon-based Embassy of
Heaven Church, a sect which rejects all forms of government regulation.
More than a year ago Mr Gray, 51, defied a court order to hand over
two of his grandsons, aged 2 and 4, to their father, Keith Tarkington,
who has legal custody. Then last December an arrest warrant was issued
against him on charges of assaulting a state trooper.
Mr Gray failed to turn up in court and since the spring he and his
family have remained holed up at his farm, behind barbed wire and
padlocked gates with signs declaring "Disobedience to Tyranny is
Obedience to God" and "No Trespassing, Survivors will be
Prosecuted".
Trenches have been dug with sandbagged "shooting positions"
from which to defend the property. The group has built a bunker inside
the compound and Mr Gray has said that anyone attempting to enter the
place by force should "bring a lot of bodybags".
The group has its own website, with a photograph of the bearded Mr
Gray and the statement: "I have come out of the system of the
Corporate US Government. I use no social security number, do no banking,
pay no income tax, do not carry license or insurance." Mr Gray
allegedly assaulted a state trooper and took his weapon during a traffic
stop last year.
Phones and electricity to the compound were cut off weeks ago for
non-payment of bills, but officials believe the group can hold out
indefinitely, with a generator, well pump, mobile telephone and what the
local newspaper described as a "completely self-sufficient, working
farm".
Mr Tarkington, who is divorced from Mr Gray's daughter, Lisa, and who
won custody of their children when she failed to appear in a divorce
court, said that the police are not doing enough to enforce the law.
"Go in there! Get my kids! That's their job," he was quoted as
saying.
"They are endangering my boys. One could certainly make the case
that they are being abused, just being around that gun-toting, nut
group."
The local sheriff, Howard "Slick" Alfred, has so far made
no attempt to serve the arrest warrant while keeping the compound under
close watch, including the use of helicopters. Last week three armed men
emerged from the farm, destroyed surveillance equipment hidden inside a
horse trailer and then retreated back inside without being intercepted
by police.
"We're going to try to resolve this peacefully. The last thing
we want is for someone to get hurt," Ronnie Brownlow, Mr Alfred's
deputy, said, but he added. "We're doing whole lot more than we are
at liberty to discuss."
The FBI has been brought in to monitor the case because Mr Gray has
known associations with other right-wing militia groups across the
country, including the secessionist "Republic of Texas", which
came into conflict with the law three years ago.
Various signs posted around the Trinidad farm perimeter give the
flavour of the group's views: "We are Militia and will Live Free or
Die" and "90% of Catholic Priests are Child Molesters".
The Grays are believed to belong to an offshoot of the Seventh Day
Adventist Church, and various religious fundamentalist groups and
militias have come forward in support of the Texas group. Some
neighbours have taken to leaving food inside the fence.
Locals say that Mr Gray, who has lived on the farm for 16 years, was
a familiar figure in the area, often clad in combat uniform and seeking
recruits for his paramilitary organization, the Texas Constitutional
Militia.
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