Three Christian terrorists try to bomb Ft. Worth church; will the Bushitters declare war on these te

Three Burleson men who belong to a "radical Christian activist group"

were in the Johnson County Jail on Friday night after a church deacon

caught two of them attempting to ignite an explosive device on

Independence Day at a church under construction in north Burleson,

authorities said Friday.

Dayton Lee Calaway, 19, and Michael Philip Plaisted Jr., 18, were

arrested Wednesday night near the Victory Family Church after they got

bogged down in mud as a fleet-footed deacon chased them from the

church in the 400 block of Northwest John Jones Drive, police said.

Two other people drove away, the deacon told officers.

An explosive device in a glass container was found propped against the

church door. The suspects apparently tried to detonate the device

twice before being interrupted by the deacon, police and Burleson Fire

Marshal Stacy Singleton said.

As authorities were investigating at the church, they were notified of

a fire on undeveloped land behind a north Burleson residential

subdivision. A nearby resident reported seeing a vehicle drive away.

On Thursday, Jered Michael Ragon, 18, voluntarily went to the police

station for questioning after Calaway and Plaisted implicated him,

police Detective T. Catron said. Police called a MedStar ambulance

because Ragon's feet were burned, and a emergency medical crew treated

him at the station.

Ragon had gotten gasoline on his feet as he tried to destroy evidence

from the church fire in the field, and his feet were burned, Catron

said.

Calaway, Plaisted and Ragon face charges of arson at a place of

worship, a first-degree felony that carries a maximum sentence of life

in prison, Singleton said.

They remained in the Johnson County Jail in Cleburne on Friday night

with bail set at $30,000 each. Ragon also faces a charge of tampering

with evidence; bail was set at $5,000.

The glass container from the church and evidence found in the field

have been sent to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and

Explosives lab for analysis, Singleton said. The ATF and the U.S.

attorney's office are reviewing the case to determine whether federal

charges will be filed, he said.

Search warrants served Thursday night and Friday morning at Ragon's

and Plaisted's homes uncovered evidence that was also sent to the ATF

lab, police said.

Cmdr. Chris Havens, the Police Department spokesman, said the suspects

boasted about belonging to a leaderless group of 10 or 15 who share a

belief that society has become too focused on self-improvement and

self-gratification and has lost focus on the glorification of God.

"They admit to being Christian and being brought up Christian, but

they believe there should be one denomination and one church, not

multiple denominations," Havens said.

"They did not say they had a name for their group, other than they

were a radical Christian activist group. That was the way they

explained their group," he said.

The suspects said the group has three levels of involvement: Bible

study, consensual fighting and destructive acts. Because one of their

beliefs is free thought, however, participation in all three levels is

not mandatory, they told police.

The three admitted to being in a core group of seven that created the

explosive weapon as a test to draw attention to the demise of society

and to see whether the device would work, Havens said.

"They believe that the past generations have accumulated trash and are

responsible for making younger generations clean up their mess," he

said. "They're trying to make a statement and get society's attention

regarding that."

That's why two of the men said they were involved in an earlier fire

in a recycling bin at CentrePoint Church on Alsbury Road, Singleton

said. That fire burned the materials in the bin but did not damage the

church, he said.

None of the men has a criminal record, he said.

A fourth suspect, a juvenile, was not arrested because the others said

he was not involved, Havens said.

Authorities are trying to learn the identities of the others in the

core group, he said.

"We put them in the category of a domestic terrorist group," Havens

said. "We hope to discover the names of other individuals involved and

if other devices have been prepared along with any plans they may be

talking about to further their cause."

Burleson police have no evidence to link the group to an arson fire

and vandalism two weeks ago at the Bethesda Baptist Church of Saginaw,

Singleton said.

"We don't have anything that leads us to believe they've been anywhere

else right now," he said.

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/161625.html