Californian Charged With Hate Crime, Illegal Machine Guns

Charges of committing a religious hate crime and manufacturing machine guns have been filed against an oil field worker in the small central California community of Taft.

Jack Alfred Dennis, 34, of Taft, posted a $42,500 bond and was released over the weekend after being arrested Sept. 12 by police who went to his place of employment, then served a search warrant at his home.

Dennis has been charged with two counts of possessing machine guns, two counts of manufacturing machine guns and a fifth count of committing a religious hate crime, Taft Police Lt. Peter Aranda told Hatewatch this week.

Police identified Dennis as a potential suspect after various community fund-raising signs produced by Westside Believers Fellowship, a church based in Taft, were defaced with anti-religious graffiti, Aranda said."

While searching the suspect’s home for material used to deface these signs, officers discovered the [illegal] firearms in the residence,” Aranda said.

Officers also found an assortment of “antigovernment pamphlets,” which the police official couldn’t immediately describe more fully. They also found an assortment of books, including To Hell with God, Silent Death, The Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacturing, Vest Buster and Poor Man’s James Bond.

Aranda said police seized two AK-47 assault rifles, illegally modified to fire fully automatic, a bolt-action rifle and multiple “parts and pieces” for various firearms, along with more than 300 rounds of high-powered ammunition. No drugs or evidence of drug manufacturing were discovered.

“We don’t believe at this time he has any direct ties with any formal [extremist] organizations,” the police official said.