Hard News: Te Qaeda and the God Squad : Public Address

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Hard News: Te Qaeda and the God Squad

Posted at 11:06AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

The Dominion Post today covers yesterday's police raids in part by harking back 30 years, to the Full Gospel Mission -- better known as the "God Squad" -- the millenarian religious sect whose apparent stockpiling of weapons at a compound in Waipara was a huge news story in 1977. It's a story with lessons for all sides of our new controversy.

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Some members of the sect served at Christchurch's Wigram Air Force Base, and tensions about their connections to the Full Gospel Mission developed through the early 1970s. In May and June of 1977, police and military personnel searched the Mission's Waipara property -- using a warrant that contained the phrase "subversive conspiracy" -- and houses owned by sect members in the Hutt Valley.

But the story didn't break until two sect members driving north were stopped by armed police in Blenheim, and their car searched for explosives. The next day Truth broke the story on its front page, under the headline 'Odd Sect Gun Raid'.

Truth wrote of "a web of intrigue" at a "fortress-like structure" and hinted in a separate story that the sect had been recruiting "airmen skilled in communications". Rumours of a "nuclear pit" at the compound (actually a swimming pool) were quoted as fact. The report set the tone for an orgy of press coverage that should give pause to anyone who complains about today's media. The Press, The Dominion and the Evening Post went wild with words like "sinister", "brainwashed", and "bizarre".

The Herald this morning has a photo of a man it describes as a "paramilitary freedom fighter" fleeing from police. Much as I am inclined to, as The Chills put it once, never trust a man in camouflage gear, that seems a pretty adventurous caption. And the Dom Post's lead slaps a headline, Napalm bombs found in anti-terror swoop, on a story that doesn't exactly seem to say that.

Yesterday, various media organisations also ran with anonymously-sourced claims that the police raids were sparked by a threat against the life of the Prime Minister, even though Police Commissioner Howard Broad carefully said there was no imminent target.

The authorities in 1977 were not so measured in their utterances. Two days after the Truth story, the SIS director Paul Molyneux was reported as saying his organisation was "working with the police to establish if the activities of the sect involved terrorist or subversive aspects". Molyneux went on to publicly dismiss the claim of a set member that the weapons seized in police searches were part of an antique collection: "They may say that it was a private collection, but I am not naïve enough to think that is so," he blustered.

Several folk of North Canterbury saw fit to erect an effigy of a figure on gallows at the gate of the Mission property, and to let loose shotgun blasts in the area.

It was more than a month before a magistrate found that the weapons were legally obtained and possessed, and the story gradually faded -- until another series of searches for weapons in 1987. The Mission fell apart after its messianic leader, Douglas Metcalf (who turned out to have been having his way with the womenfolk) died in 1989.

But, as the Dom Post's story this morning points out:

[O]ne former member of the Full Gospel Mission, John Turton, who later became a Presbyterian minister at Reporoa, said the sect members marched as a military group "basically preparing for what I consider was anarchy".

Police raids on the camp and members' homes throughout New Zealand in 1977 blunted its military capacity. Firearms and ammunition were confiscated and charges were laid against several sect members, including some against Dr Metcalf that were later dismissed.

Mr Turton later said the police action prevented a siege in the style of the shootout in Waco, Texas, where a 51-day stand-off between a religious cult led by David Koresh led to the death of Koresh and 85 of his Branch Davidian followers.

Police raided Camp David again in 1987, but – without the powers conferred by the Terrorism Suppression Act, which only came into force in 2002 – a glitch with the search warrant gave cult members 48 hours to bury their arms along the highway between Waipara and Murchison and in forests, said Mr Turton.

So perhaps the God Squad wasn't entirely benign.

Various people were quick yesterday to bemoan the crushing of their civil rights, to (for goodness sake) compare the raids to activities at Guantanamo Bay and, even in the sane and sensible Public Address forums, allege sweeping state conspiracies without a shred of evidence.

There is also a remarkably widely-held belief that TV3's presence with a camera at the early morning entry to the Abel Smith Street house in Wellington is the fruit of a conspiracy between the police and the media. This not only has no basis in fact, it's completely fucking stupid.

I spoke to TV3's news chief Mark Jennings yesterday afternoon, who said that a cameraman working on Sunrise, saw the police on their way to exercise their warrant nearby, grabbed his camera and followed them, and got a couple of minutes of very useful footage, which TV3 posted as soon as it could, without even adding a commentary. If the dark forces of state control had really been looking to stage a media event, do you really think they'd pick the guy from Sunrise? And wouldn't they have invited along a reporter too?

My own view is that there clearly seems to be enough evidence to warrant some form of police intervention, and that the police have so far (with the exception of a farcical attempt to search without a warrant in Christchurch) played it by the book. The Herald has an interview with a woman who was subject to the recruiting entreaties of the balaclava-clad "freedom fighters" of Ruatoki -- she thought they were " out there and pretty mad" -- and a story (rather disappointing after last night's promotion on the paper's website) of how two local hunters stumbled on one of the camps. The two young men were threatened, retreated, and, as you would, informed the police, who were already investigating the "training camps".

This is the Trade Me feedback page for one of the men arrested, who traded as hunt4life. He bought a hell of a lot of stuff -- ammunition, combat gear, at least one semi-automatic rifle (of a type that could plausibly used for hunting) -- and sold very little. Whatever else might be discovered about hunt4life, his Trade Me rep was first-class.

I didn't see cyber-hori's feedback, but Scoop's photograph of the search warrant for the Wellington house suggests a similar haul.

Would these people really do what is alleged? I don't know, but this blog, which seems connected to some of those arrested, seems to countenance armed resistance in theory. On Indymedia, one looney (who also wanted to come to the New Year "freedom fighters" gathering that seems of interest to the police) is calling for an end to peaceful protest and to "rise and strike down those who have inflicted their pain into the Name of Freedom."

I suspect that most of the people scared witless by the police action yesterday are guilty of nothing more than an association with persons of interest. And I do not think we were facing sectarian warfare or anything of the kind. But it isn't out of the question that a handful of people might act on crazy ideas, as greenies and animal liberationists have before, in other places.

That remains to be seen, just as it remains to be seen that the invoking of the Suppression of Terrorism Act has been appropriate (there's a feeling in certain parts of the public sector that the scale of the operation was intended to demonstrate to our allies that we're not the weak link they link we are, but, again, that's just speculation). But I'm fairly sure that things have been going on that warrant the attention of the police at some level, and I'd feel the same way if those alleged to be involved were right-wing nutters.

Perhaps now would be a good time for everyone to chill out, and perhaps even have a giggle at this post from another forum:

one of the cyber-hori items was:

Army camo / camoflauge pants XXXXL

Fattest terrorist ever.

LOL …

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noizyboy
From: wellington
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 156

Posted at 11:06AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

That indymedia site is great. I love this from "Michael de Angelo", channeling Rik from the Young Ones...

Its time to rise get off your asses and fight against the hitlers new regieme called the NZ Govt. The Gestapo (NZ Police) need to learn that we as the people of this land will not bow down to dictatorship nor to corruption of our rights. We will not lay down but we will fight for our freedom. All Power To The People.

Right on!

BenWilson
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 2908

Posted at 11:14AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Heh, this story is big news for NZ. Which is one of the good things about NZ.

Don Christie
From: Wellington
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 1407

Posted at 11:15AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

I find the political restraint shown by all parties (so far) is welcome. I wonder how this sort of event would play out elsewhere. Election year in Australia, for example.

Seems like a pretty sensitive issue to me.

Not read kiwiblog recently but I also wonder how the resident nut jobs there are feeling. I distinctly remember a post from Mr, Redbaiter calling for folks to take to the hills with guns and to defend their freedoms. Are they in all out support mode for those arrested?

Russell Brown
From: Auckland
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 9057
Moderator

Posted at 11:17AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Not read kiwiblog recently but I also wonder how the resident nut jobs there are feeling. I distinctly remember a post from Mr, Redbaiter calling for folks to take to the hills with guns and to defend their freedoms. Are they in all out support mode for those arrested?

There did seem to be a few of them demanding to know what all the fuss was ...

djb
Since: Dec 2006
Posts: 9

Posted at 11:20AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

I think the sentiments on chilling out are probably a bit easier to make if you don't live in Ruatoki and have armed police searching your school buses... but I appreciate the historical background. We should be asking where the Weapons of Mass Destruction are though, all that's shown up so far is hunting gear.

Can't help but wonder whether the police were thinking that they needed a way to get back onto the front pages "protecting public safety" rather than for sexual assaults - nothing like public fear of Maori activists and "hippies" (as they were bizarrely described on RNZ) to help with that PR work.

Stephen Judd
From: Wellington
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 2029

Posted at 11:22AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

On a pedantic note, isn't "sectarian" conflict between religious groups, or sects? Violence in Iraq is sectarian (Sunni vs Shia), violence in Northern Ireland is sectarian (Protestant vs Catholic), but I wouldn't characterise a struggle between Maori nationalists and the state as sectarian.

Ben Austin
From: London
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 627

Posted at 11:26AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

It does seems a little otherworldly from afar, I wonder how long this will take to get play in the world newspapers, and if it makes the "oddly enough" or the real news section? My bet is I'll read about in the Guardian Saturday edition in a week or two. Title something along the lines of "trouble in paradise"

Graeme Edgeler
From: Wellington, New Zealand
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 1509

Posted at 11:29AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

the Dom Post's story this morning points out ... but – without the powers conferred by the Terrorism Suppression Act, which only came into force in 2002...

Now, if only the Terrorism Suppression Act had actually created such powers...

Russell Brown
From: Auckland
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 9057
Moderator

Posted at 11:32AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Now, if only the Terrorism Suppression Act had actually created such powers...

I wondered about that.

Michael Fitzgerald
Since: May 2007
Posts: 631

Posted at 11:42AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Big ups to Sean Plunkett this morning.

Gotta say this shit scares me and I don't trust the cops have got it right.

Was it all to get the bill through parliment?

George Pollard
From: Wellington
Since: Oct 2007
Posts: 1

Posted at 11:43AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

...this post from another forum...

Hey hey, credit where it’s due ;)

Sonic
From: Auckland
Since: Jan 2007
Posts: 98

Posted at 11:51AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

I can sort of see the cops getting nervous about Maori activists clambering around the hills, and about some anarcho greenies planning to disrupt happy valley or whatever.

What escapes me is how these two divergent groups could be linked together. They do not seem like natural allies.

Sonic
From: Auckland
Since: Jan 2007
Posts: 98

Posted at 11:54AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

First person bailed

"Judge Josephine Bouchier said that on the evidence before her at the moment, Lockett could not be considered to pose such a significant danger to the public that he should be in custody."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10470129

BenWilson
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 2908

Posted at 11:57AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

For once, catching up on this on PA took longer than on Kiwiblog. For starters, most of the PA posts were worth reading. Kiwiblog threads on it so far are a parody of themselves.

Andrew Paul Wood
From: Christchurch
Since: Jan 2007
Posts: 175

Posted at 11:58AM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

It made BBC World last night (insomnia you see). I think it's a little early to be passing sweeping judgments on who is right and who is wrong at this stage. From Auckland and Wellington I think it is very easy to dismiss out of hand some of the very intense feelings in the rural and provincial areas. Remember the Coelisi virus - that's serious organisation.

Michael Fitzgerald
Since: May 2007
Posts: 631

Posted at 12:02PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Smack in the face for the cops - Lockett has got bailed.

He seems to be the one about to wage war on NZ

George Darroch
From: Te Ao Nui
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 1022

Posted at 12:05PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Correction due: the list of items in the scoop photograph linked to actually relates to an Auckland address - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0710/S00222.htm

My apologies for posting that pic to the system without providing the context!

Alastair Jamieson
From: Auckland
Since: Jan 2007
Posts: 75

Posted at 12:12PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

anarcho greenies planning to disrupt happy valley or whatever

Regardless of any anarchic tendencies, I don't think you could accuse the greenies of 'disrupting' Happy Valley, compared to Solid Energy's dismal scheme for the place...

Stephen Judd
From: Wellington
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 2029

Posted at 12:20PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

The bit at the bottom of the Scoop article George Darroch linked to might explain the "peace activist" link.

One of the flatmates of the raided Symond’s St apartment, Gary Cranston, said that six police raided the house in the morning.

He also said that while he was not involved with planning the upcoming training camp in the past they have involved teaching campaigning skills, media skills and there have definitely been no weapons.

“We are peace activists,” he said.

If I were a committed peace activist maybe I would regard teaching non-violent techniques to other groups as a very proper thing to do.

Che Tibby
From: the back of an envelope
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 1523

Posted at 12:26PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

On a pedantic note, isn't "sectarian" conflict between religious groups, or sects? ...I wouldn't characterise a struggle between Maori nationalists and the state as sectarian.

a maori-state struggle isn't sectarian. you might be able to characterise it as "anti-colonial" or "revolutionary". semantics and pendantics are important in this kind of situation because they let you know who and why people are fighting.

but in graeme's defence, he was alluding to maori nationalists and something like aggrieved farmers.

Andrew Paul Wood
From: Christchurch
Since: Jan 2007
Posts: 175

Posted at 12:31PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Isn't "peace activist" a bit of an oxymoron?

Andrew Paul Wood
From: Christchurch
Since: Jan 2007
Posts: 175

Posted at 12:38PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

And I wince every time anyone's lawyer tries to make a direct link between this and Parihaka. The Government can't maintain a position for one term, little own 128 years.

kowhai montgomery
From: wellington
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 446

Posted at 12:38PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Isn't "peace activist" a bit of an oxymoron?

Why? Only violence has an active component?
I will grant you that "vigorously peaceful" has a funny ring to it.......

Andrew Paul Wood
From: Christchurch
Since: Jan 2007
Posts: 175

Posted at 12:40PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Surely you need to be actively at war in order to aggitate for peace?

Michael Stevens
From: Auckland
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 194

Posted at 12:40PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Interesting posts about all this up on Bomber's Tumeke site.

It's always so hard to judge this sort of thing from the outside - are the Police being way too heavy-handed, or are they being prudent?
I just don't have the information to make an informed judgement yet.

But reports of napalm bombs fill me with a certain degree of unease, no matter what the context.

So I'm going to wait and see.

Thomas Johnson
From: Wellington
Since: Oct 2007
Posts: 39

Posted at 12:41PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

This was obvious in another article I got forwarded this morning from Bomber's blog. He was sniffing around last night at Unite and had cornered some less experienced activists and was asking them what was going on...
As someone quite rightly put it last night....'if not one talks, everyone walks'.
It is not gossip it is fucken serious and some of our comrades are facing a long time behind bars, it would be good if people could remember that.

From Indymedia site - Sure sounds peaceful (cue Tui)

Hadyn Green
From: Wellington
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 1802
Moderator

Posted at 12:41PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Police raided Camp David again in 1987

Isn't Camp David where George Bush holidays? Though in 87 it would've been Reagan.

Stephen Judd
From: Wellington
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 2029

Posted at 12:42PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

And I wince every time anyone's lawyer tries to make a direct link between this and Parihaka. The Government can't maintain a position for one term, little own 128 years.

The Government can't, but the Crown can, and some people would say it has.

Andrew Paul Wood
From: Christchurch
Since: Jan 2007
Posts: 175

Posted at 12:43PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Actually I though Camp David is a gay friend of mine

Russell Brown
From: Auckland
Since: Nov 2006
Posts: 9057
Moderator

Posted at 12:44PM on 16 Oct 07. Permalink.

Smack in the face for the cops - Lockett has got bailed.
He seems to be the one about to wage war on NZ

The intercepted communications certainly seem to enhance his reputation as a crazy person:

* "I'm training up to be a vicious, dangerous commando"
* "White men are going to die in this country"
* "I'm at war. I'm declaring war on this country very soon"

Meanwhile, Bomber is hinting darkly of more to come.

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Hard News: Te Qaeda and the God Squad