Unfortunately for Patterson and Kiles, federal agents really were eavesdropping. Earlier this month the FBI searched the two men’s homes and turned up more than 50 firearms, 50,000 rounds of ammunition, a cache of hand-grenade parts and 30 pounds of ammonium-nitrate fertilizer–the same explosive substance used in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City federal building. The Feds also discovered an extensive library of paramilitary books with titles like “Disruptive Terror” and “Deadly Brew: Advanced Improvised Explosives.” Patterson and Kiles now face federal weapons charges–and prosecutors say they’ll likely add terrorism conspiracy counts later this month. Prosecutors allege the friends conspired to blow up targets in the Sacramento area, including a television tower, an electrical substation and two 12-million-gallon propane tanks. Their goal, the Feds say, was to create such chaos on or around the new year that the president would declare martial law–giving militant groups an opportunity to overthrow the government. (Lawyers for both men deny their clients were planning any criminal acts; one called the alleged plans “a lot of talk” that they never intended to carry out.)
Federal agents point to the arrests as a success in their attempts to thwart millennial terrorism. Yet they caution that the raid only reinforces how hard it is for the government to track loners like Patterson and Kiles. For months the FBI has been warning police around the country to be prepared for Y2K-related terrorism from groups or individuals–and federal command posts will monitor possible threats on and after New Year’s. Even so, agents concede they can’t spot every potential plotter. As federal prosecutor Jodi Rafkin puts it: “How many others are out there that we aren’t aware of?”
This time, the FBI got lucky. Law-enforcement officials say Patterson–whom they suspect was the plot’s leader–was a former member of an antigovernment militia and self-taught explosives expert. Angry even as a teen, he once filed a $100 quadrillion lawsuit against California, claiming the 21-year-old drinking age violated his constitutional rights. Kiles was convicted on federal gun charges in 1992 and given a suspended sentence.
The FBI got wind of the alleged plot from an undercover informant. In June 1998, according to the informant, Patterson talked about blowing up the two huge propane tanks in Elk Grove, Calif.–causing an explosion powerful enough to damage buildings and kill residents within a mile radius. Over the next year, federal agents tapped Patterson’s phone and followed him and Kiles to gun shows. At one point, the FBI brought in two female undercover agents to befriend Patterson. He took the agents to gun shows, where he bought one of them a Ruger .22 rifle under the table.
Federal agents also taped phone conversations between Patterson and several other associates–including a man calling himself “Mr. X,” who spoke to them often about gun purchases–and a retired United Airlines pilot from Nevada who supplied Patterson with prepaid phone cards and paid for rental cars. Federal investigators suspect this man–or some other associate–may have helped bankroll the operation. The grim investment might have paid off, if the Feds hadn’t moved in.
