Four U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Stewart Army base in Georgia planned to assassinate President Obama and overthrow the government, according to prosecutors in the case. The Associated Press reports the four soldiers allegedly murdered a former Army comrade and his girlfriend for knowing too much about their anti-government militia.
One of the four soldiers, Pfc. Michael Burnett, pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter, and testified in court against the other three involved in the plot: Pvt. Isaac Aguigui, Pvt. Christopher Salmon, and Sgt. Anthony Peden.
According to prosecutors, former Army Private Michael Roark, 19, and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Tiffany York, were murdered by the militia when Roark left the anti-government group. The Associated Press reports:
[O]n the night of Dec. 4, Burnett and the three other soldiers lured Roark and York to some woods a short distance from the Army post under the guise that they were going target shooting. He said Peden shot Roark's girlfriend in the head while she was trying to get out of her car. Salmon, he said, made Roark get on his knees and shot him twice in the head. Burnett said Aguigui ordered the killings.
Roark's mother, Tracy Jahr, spoke with Seattle television station KIMA-TV about the loss of her son. I've posted that interview at the top of this story.
Jahr said she was proud of her son:
"He died serving his country. He wasn't in a war. He wasn't killed by the enemy. He was killed by his own people."
