Reasons scarce for arsenal
Michael Breit's alleged 'hit list' is sealed by federal authorities
By CORINA CURRY, Rockford Register Star
ROCKFORD -- A bumper sticker that reads "Yeah! You can have my gun -- BULLETS FIRST," a tattoo shop ad and an American flag decal decorate the outside of a car belonging to a Rockford man who authorities believe was stockpiling guns, ammunition and bomb-making materials to attack the government, police and liberals.
Few details emerged about 20-year-old Michael Breit after his arrest on federal charges of illegally receiving explosives with intent to use them to kill, injure or intimidate any person or damage or destroy any property. If convicted, Breit could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
No one answered the door at Breit's Sunnyside Drive apartment building. Breit's parents, James and Leslie Breit, refused to comment. Employees at a Loves Park gun shop where Breit claims to have purchased assault-type firearms and bomb-making materials in recent months said they barely know him.
According to court documents, Breit completed the 10th grade and has been working the past five years at Aaron's Electrical Service in Rockford. Breit has no juvenile record. He has no adult record beyond tickets for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and fishing without a license. He has never been in prison. Court documents say that he "became hostile and defensive and refused to answer any further questions without his lawyer" when he was asked about drug and alcohol use.
Court records also reveal that Breit owned several firearms, several hundred rounds of ammunition, several knives, a sword, hand grenade, bags and boxes of fireworks and bomb-making parts. His home library carried such titles as "The Anarchist Cookbook," which includes instructions on how to make pipe bombs and other explosives, and "The Turner Diaries," a novel about armed revolution against the federal government.
Authorities also seized several of Breit's handwritten notes and drawings, which included a list of current and former federal officials and public figures that he "marked to die" because of political or anti-gun beliefs, drawings of weapons, an armed attack on a limousine and an essay titled "Revolutionary Strike Force," which outlines a plan to kill 1,500 people at a Democratic presidential caucus.
Breit's hit list was sealed as part of the investigation.
The contents of Breit's apartment and his alleged intent to carry out violence surfaced Sunday night when a female neighbor called 911 to report hearing a gunshot.
Rockford police investigated the call. According to court documents, Breit told the officers that he "screwed up" and that he accidentally fired a round from a newly purchased AK-47 assault rifle into a door frame as he attempted to dismantle the gun. Officers observed the bullet hole in the door frame. They discovered Breit's arsenal of weapons and threatening notes and notified agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Breit's one-story, eight-unit apartment building is in a mainly single-family residential area north of Forest Hills Country Club. The windows of the apartment next to Breit's are adorned with Precious Moments decorations.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Syfert would not share details of the case against Breit, except to say that the situation is serious.
"Anyone in possession of explosives and bomb-making materials accompanied by a list of targets, that's something that authorities are going to take very seriously," he said.
Syfert would not release Breit's arrest photo, nor would he say if Breit owns a valid Firearms Owner Identification card. He praised the Rockford Police Department for its work on the case. He couldn't recall a similar arrest in the area in recent years.
Breit is in federal custody. He will appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney in Rockford this morning. Rockford attorney Dan Cain entered an appearance Tuesday on Breit's behalf.
"This is overblown," said Dan Bement, an employee at Bullet Stop Gun Shop in Loves Park where Breit told ATF agents that he purchased some bomb-making items.
"If this is true, what people are saying, then the guy is an idiot -- there's no reason to fire a gun that way in the city limits. Writing all that stuff down, that was ridiculous," Bement said. "If all these allegations are true, then he should be put in jail. ... I think it's just giving the rest of us that like the sport of shooting a bad name, and it makes me mad."
Bement said he might recognize Breit but didn't know him well.
"The kid came in and bought a gun," he said. "I'm sure he checked out, or we wouldn't have sold him anything. It seemed perfectly normal."
Steve Kauz, who also works at Bullet Stop, said Breit wasn't a regular.
"There are crazy people out there," Kauz said. "We don't talk about that stuff in here, that bomb-making stuff or anything that sounds wrong. We always try to talk with people about what they're looking to do with what they buy. If we ever heard something like that, we'd politely ask them to leave and call the Loves Park police."
Although Breit's light blue Chevy Corsica bears a National Rifle Association emblem sticker and another sticker that reads "My President is Charlton Heston, NRA," it's unclear if he is a member of the nationwide gun ownership advocacy group.
"I don't have any idea who that person is," said Michael Huber, NRA senior field representative who covers the Rockford area from his office near Bloomington.
"The mission of the NRA is to uphold the Constitution and the Second Amendment ... what this person is accused of is not reflective at all of what the NRA stands for."
Rockford Register Star reporter Mike Wiser contributed to this report.
http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040423/NEWS0107/404230322
From the affidavit charging Michael J. Breit
On what led to his arrest April 18: A woman called 911 to say she heard a gunshot at 3012 Sunnyside Drive. Breit told officers he accidentally fired a round from a newly purchased gun into his door frame. Breit told officers he had been sitting on his living room couch attempting to dismantle his newly purchased semiautomatic AK-47 assault rifle, when he accidentally pulled the trigger and the rifle fired.
On what they found inside: Breit gave officers written consent to search his apartment and his vehicle, which was parked outside. From his apartment, officers recovered firearms, and components to be used in building pipe bombs. Items recovered included:
A Mauser 8 mm model 98 firearm, serial number 8014, loaded with two rounds of ammunition, which had been manually shortened from its original length.
A Western Arms Corp. 126A shotgun, serial number 21594, loaded with two rounds of 12-gauge ammunition, which had been manually shortened from its original length.
A DS Arms .308-caliber model SA-58 rifle, serial number DS21358.
A Remington 126A model 870 shotgun, serial number B873723M.
A MAADI AK-47 rifle, serial number CM16575.
Two .44-caliber black powder pistols, serial numbers P74683 and 438783.
More than 700 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, along with several magazines, two of which were loaded.
Forty rounds of .308-caliber ammunition, along with two magazines.
A box of black powder loading tools.
A powder flask with black powder.
A 1-pound can of Pyrodex black powder.
Five shotgun shells disassembled of shot.
Four 1-pound cans of IMB 7828 smokeless black powder.
Cannon fuse.
Five pipe sections.
A box containing pipe sections, shot and a broken pellet pistol.
A plastic jar containing shotgun shot.
An inert hand grenade.
A cut-off section of a shotgun barrel.
Two cans of No. 11 percussion caps.
Five boxes containing 100 rounds each of 12-gauge shotgun shells, as well as three boxes containing 75 shells each, two boxes containing 25 shells each and a plastic green box with 100 rounds of 12-gauge shells.
Two ammunition pouches, along with seven 30-round banana-clip magazines.
113 rounds of 8 mm Mauser ammunition.
Several rounds of miscellaneous ammunition.
Eight knives.
One sword.
Several handwritten notes, drawings, including pictures of guns and pipe bombs (discussed further in paragraph below)
Several bags and boxes of fireworks.
Several books including the following titles: "Department of the Army Operator's Manual for AK-47;" "The Anarchist Cookbook;" "Guns, Freedom and Terrorism," "The Turner Diaries," and "Boston's Gun Bible." The book "The Anarchist Cookbook" includes instructions on how to make pipe bombs and other types of explosive devices. "The Turner Diaries" is a novel about armed revolution against the federal government.
On what Breit said to officers: A list of current and former federal officials and other political and public figures was found in his apartment. Next to each name was the word "marked." When asked what that meant, Breit said "marked to die" because they were liberal and supported anti-gun efforts or did not support the current administration.
