Brian Cannon and Cory Williamson pleaded guilty this week to domestic terrorism charges in Rome. A third defendant in the case, Terry Peace, is scheduled to appear in court Thursday. Both men pleaded guilty to conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. Sentencing for Cannon and Williamson is scheduled for August 7.
According to the indictment, Peace, Cannon and Williamson, all members of a militia in Georgia, participated in online chat discussions between Jan. 23 and Feb. 15, 2014, that were monitored by the FBI. During the conversations they discussed using guerilla war tactics and planned to launch attacks against a metro Atlanta police station and several government agencies in February 2014.
It added that the trio attempted to `recruit other individuals to join them and to carry out similar operations in those individuals` home states. `
Peace allegedly told other militia members to choose targets including `road blocks, TSA checkpoints, sheriffs/police conducting operations outside the Constitution as well as to participate in the removal of government people who support extra-Constitutional activities.`
In February 2014, they traveled from Rome to Tennessee for a meeting with an undercover FBI source about getting several explosive devices, including a thermite-mix charge and a dozen pipe bombs constructed for `maximum fragmentation.`
The men were arrested in Cartersville on Feb. 15, 2014, when they took possession of inert explosives and other material given to the source by the FBI.
The three were originally arraigned on a charge of conspiracy to receive and possess a destructive device. The new indictment and charge supersedes the previous indictment.
