Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Washington Post reports:
A court appearance Monday solved one part of the mystery surrounding a Virginia man whose alleged talk of explosives landed him in a federal investigation: Russell Vane IV is alive. Vane, 42, who uses the nickname “Duke,” had gone silent early this month after an anti-government militia he belonged to publicly disavowed him over concerns about his repeated references to bombmaking.
But Vane appeared, very much alive, in federal custody Monday for a hearing on charges related to manufacturing the deadly poison ricin, indications of which FBI agents found during a search of his home on April 10. Earlier this month, members of the Virginia Kekoas “prepper” militia took the unusual step of going public with their fears that Vane, who formally joined last summer, might be either a government informant or a dangerous militant.
Read the full article. According to prosecutors, the ricin was “stored as haphazardly as one might an extra box of lightbulbs: on an ordinary high shelf in the laundry room, in a plain cardboard box, without even sealing it up.”
7) Prosecutors said 23 guns were in Vane’s home in addition to the ricin.
They bring up his one small conviction for a prior gun crime (https://t.co/nqL53OvTe5) and imply that he committed a state felony in Gloucester (https://t.co/ynshoLc9ds). pic.twitter.com/1DR61h9ELh
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) April 15, 2024
8) Prosecutors also described “prepper” materials they found including go-bags of emergency supplies, “a lot of cash and precious metals,” the guns, and an “Apocalypse check list.”
They concede these are al legal, but said he’s “unusually well-equipped to leave jurisdiction.”
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) April 15, 2024
16) “The charge is punishable by life imprisonment.” pic.twitter.com/S20htAYfWw
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) April 16, 2024
17) “Acting on tips generated by Fischer’s report, according to court papers, the FBI conducted a search and found supplies for manufacturing ricin in the laundry room of a Vienna, Va., home that Vane shares with his wife and their young children.”https://t.co/I109CeQVe6
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) April 17, 2024