Texas Plane Crash Only Latest in String of Violent Antigovernment Incidents

Law-enforcement and private investigative groups say that last week's incident in which a man flew a plane into an IRS building in Texas is just one in a series of recent events involving people with deep-seated antigovernment grievances.

In one of the latest incidents, state and local authorities in Idaho arrested a 37-year-old man, Bruce Eugene Loggins Jr., following an early-morning car chase. After Loggins was finally cornered and arrested, police allegedly found an explosive device, believed to be a pipe bomb, in the stolen car he'd been driving. A black duffel bag, believed to contain other explosive devices, was also allegedly recovered from a trailer park where Loggins had earlier been spotted.

An official of the Canyon County, Idaho, prosecutor's office said that warrants had been issued for Loggins's arrest after he failed to show for a scheduled court hearing in December relating to charges for possession of methamphetamine and a firearm. Police in Garden City, Idaho, said Loggins had been booked into the Elmore County jail on the drugs, firearms, and stolen-car charges.

A written statement by Garden City police said it was not known what Loggins may have intended to do with the bombs. Two sources familiar with federal domestic terrorism investigations, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said investigators were examining the possibility that Loggins was involved with an extreme-right-wing group that could have been planning some kind of public bombing campaign. Loggins has no known connections with any such group. He appeared in court on Thursday and was remanded into custody pending the posting of bail; he did not enter a plea to any charges, according to the judge's clerk.

Only a couple of weeks earlier, authorities in Manchester, N.J., arrested 45-year-old Gregory Girard on charges of possessing a stockpile of weapons, ammunition, and hand-grenade-like devices. His wife, a psychiatrist, reportedly contacted police to voice her concern about Girard's growing paranoia and hoarding of weapons. According to a police statement reported by the Gloucester Daily Times, "Mr. Girard indicated he was preparing for 'Armageddon' which he felt was imminent." At his arraignment, Girard pleaded not guilty to weapons charges.

In January, authorities in Missouri made two arrests in similar cases. One suspect, who allegedly described himself as an "extreme survivalist," was charged with making a terrorist threat after police seized more than 100 guns and 300,000 rounds of ammo from him. Lowell Aughenbaugh was reportedly arrested after family members complained he had threatened to kill his family and blow up the police department in Rolla, Mo. He entered a not-guilty plea.

Also in January, the Feds charged a Trenton, Mo., man, Richard Cobley, with illegally possessing firearms and homemade bombs; he had prior felony convictions for domestic violence and drug possession. Cobley has pleaded not guilty to the charges, but is being held in custody pending a possible trial next month, said a spokesman for federal prosecutors in Kansas City, Mo.

Mark Potok, who tracks antigovernment extremism at the Southern Poverty Law Center, says the latest arrests are the most visible evidence of a "stunning and unprecedented growth" in extreme antigovernment activity—some by small, organized groups, others by angry loners. There is no evidence, though, that the various arrests are an indication of any wider plot, or that they are connected in any way.