On this edition of Parallax Views, Ken Silva of the Epoch Times joined me to discuss his reporting on the FBI’s PATCON (Patriot Conspiracy) operation, which attempted to infiltrate the far-right “Patriot”/militia movement in the early 1990s, and the questions that remain about the federal handling of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building aka the Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19th, 1995.
Although Silva works for the admittedly very conservative Epoch Times he believes the story of PATCON should be of concern to everyone given the history of FBI operations like COINTELPRO. We discuss how the FBI set up front groups like the Veterans Aryan Movements to target militia/”Patriot” movement targets such as Tom Posey, a veteran who became radicalized after being thrown under the bus by the Reagan administration in the aftermath of Iran/Contra. We also delve into how the story of PATCON was first reported by extremism researcher J.M. Berge, then covered by a whistleblower in a heavily redacted Newsweek piece, and, rather critically, by Wend S. Painting in her book Aberration in the Heatland of the Real about Timothy McVeigh. Ken and I discuss how PATCON may have created blowback and even, potentially, contributed to aiding far-right wing activities in the lead up to the OKC bombing (PATCON was shuttered in 1993; two years before the bombing).
We also dissect the rather complex story of the OKC bombing including the neo-nazi terrorist bank robbers known as the Aryan Republican Army, the private white nationalist city Elohim City and its mysterious head of security Andreas Strassmeir, the ongoing high-stakes case of Jesse Trentadue (whose brother Kenneth Michael Trentadue was founding hanging in a cell during the OKC bombing investigation) and how it relates to the case, a whistleblower who claims feds were involved in the incitement of extremist groups, Aryan Republican Army Donna Langan (formerly Peter Langan), the Wolverine Watchmen case and the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot, the possibility that the OKC bombing was the result of a failed sting operation (as opposed to other, more sensational theories claiming it was an “inside job” or had Iraqi connections), Ken’s recent interview with Bob Ricks (FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge during the 1993 Waco Siege and FBI Special Agent in Charge during the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing investigation), ATF informant and white supremacist Carol Howe (who claims that she informed federal authorities of plans emanating from Elohim City to attack federal buildings in the lead up to the OKC bombing), United States Attorney General Merrick Garland, PATCON as a failure at best and having led to incitement at worst, the origins of the Patriot movement, domestic spying, and much, much more.
