New Charges Filed Against "765 Anarchists" Leader Sam Bradbury
New federal charges have been filed against an Indiana man, Samuel L. Bradbury, the reported leader of the antigovernment group “765 Anarchists” that claimed ties to extremists who fatally shot two police officers last year in Las Vegas.
The self-described antigovernment anarchist is accused of making social media threats to kill local police and “blow [an Indiana] courthouse to pieces.”
The new superseding indictment, filed on May 14, now charges him with making threats to use fire or explosives and, in a second count, of maliciously conveying false information concerning the use or fire or explosives. The 23-year-old Indiana man remains in federal custody without bond, deemed a flight risk and a danger to the community.
After his arrest last summer on a single federal count of making a threat, Bradbury’s attorneys were preparing a defense that his threats were merely a fictional exercise of his First Amendment right of free speech.
Bradbury’s threats included naming two police officers and two judges, claiming his death-ready militia of anarchists was ready “to purge the vile pig scum from this land and restore constitutional rights to the people.”
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon in Hammond, Ind., denied a defense motion to dismiss the new superseding indictment against Bradbury, who was arrested last summer. He also faces four state charges related to Facebook postings in which he boasted about his affiliations with Las Vegas killers Jerad and Amanda Miller who Bradbury claimed were members of the “765 Anarchists,” a name derived from an Indiana area code.
At the time of his arrest, two improvised explosive devices and chemicals to make the explosive chemical thermite were found during a search of Bradbury’s home in West Lafayette, Ind.
His trial originally had been set to begin early next month, but the filing of the new indictment will push that back to a date not yet set by the court.
In opposing Bradbury’s release prior to trial, federal prosecutors said the suspect has “a history of substance abuse and mental health issues, the latter of which the Court noted weighs in favor of detention.”
“Just because the defendant did not carry out his threats does not diminish the seriousness of his purported plans," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas S. Ratcliffe and Jill R. Koster wrote in a motion opposing Bradbury’s pretrial release.
“There is still a presumption against bond for crimes of violence, including threats to kill,” the prosecutors said. “Although the thermite found during the search of the defendant’s home last summer has been removed, the threat posed by his ability to make or carry out similar threats of death and destruction remains.”
