Antigovernment Extremist –– the 'Picasso of Machine Guns' –– Found Guilty of Illegal Firearm Possession
An antigovernment militia extremist who describes himself as a self-taught bomb maker and the “Picasso of machine guns” pleaded guilty on Monday to illegally possessing a fully automatic .50 caliber machine gun.
Michael Ray Emry, 54, who identified himself as an “embedded reporter” during last year’s 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, was arrested last May in John Day, Oregon. During a search of his home, federal agents found a fully automatic .50 caliber “Ma Deuce” machine gun with a destroyed serial number under Emry’s bed.
Federal prosecutors said Emry was negotiating the sale of the machine gun with an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a convicted felon and a captain in a Texas-based militia.
Emry is the owner of the website for The Voice of Idaho, a Boise-based online news source that was created in 2014 following Cliven Bundy’s standoff with Bureau of Land Management officials in Bunkerville, Nevada, that year. The website pushes antigovernment propaganda and focuses on topics such as “Tyranny and Rebellion in the West” and “The United Nations in Idaho” –– both ideas that have animated the modern antigovernment movement.
In a jail interview with The Oregonian at the time of his arrest, Emry claimed he was known as the “Picasso of machine guns” and was “a self-taught bomb maker” whose regular job was repairing car transmissions. His involvement in extremist circles dates to at least 2004, when he testified in his own defense against federal firearms charges.
In that, Emry expressed the view that citizens need to be armed to prepare for conflicts with the federal government –– conflicts such as the 51-day standoff with Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, in 1993, and the deadly standoff in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, a year earlier.
“All of these people have died standing for their principles,” Emry testified. “Lord forbid I ever have to pull a gun on a law enforcement officer.” He added, “I may have to if they start breaking the Constitution and the oaths that they upheld.”
Emry faces up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine when he is sentenced in April. Federal prosecutors say they will recommend a 30-month sentence, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
