Two leaders of a small militia group were arrested Friday and 10 bombs were confiscated in raids on their homes after an informant said they planned to build and distribute pipe bombs.
Early reports said the bombs were to be set off during the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, but a top federal law enforcement official said there was no indication of any connection to the Olympics.The Georgia Republic Militia group, which law officials said has 11 to 15 members, apparently wanted to hold the bombs at their homes in case of government invasion, according to a federal affidavit.
Robert Edward Starr III and William James McCranie Jr., both of Roberta, were charged with conspiracy to possess unregistered explosive devices.
Starr was arrested at his home, and McCranie was arrested in Americus, where he was working Friday. Both were held at a county jail pending a hearing on Monday, said Justice Department spokesman Carl Stern.
In Macon, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms displayed 10 pipe bombs they said were found in the raid. Nine of them were made from one-inch diameter metal pipe with caps screw-ed on each end. The 10th was about 3 1/2 feet long and four inches in diameter. It was wrapped in mud-stained plastic and apparently had been buried, agents said.
The agents also showed explosive powder, pre-cut pipe and other bombmaking materials they said were recovered in the raid.
Roberta is 74 miles south of Atlanta, where most of the Olympic games are to be held, and 43 miles east of Columbus, the site of Olympic softball.