Hutaree Militia Member Pleads Guilty in Cop-Killing Plot

A man whose nickname is “Mouse” is the first member of the Hutaree Militia to strike a plea deal with the Justice Department to avoid the possibility of a lengthy federal prison sentence.

Joshua John Clough, 29, of Blissfield Township, Mich., pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Detroit to use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence – a federal crime that carries a five-year minimum sentence.

Clough was one of nine members of the Hutaree Militia arrested in March 2010 and charged in a plot to make homemade bombs as part of a conspiracy to murder scores of law enforcement officers. Charging documents allege “Mouse” and his co-conspirators hoped the killing of cops would spark a large uprising against the federal government. A superseding indictment returned in June 2010 accuses the defendants of seditious conspiracy and a host of other serious federal crimes.

The Hutaree website claimed its name means “Christian warrior” and described its mission as preparing “for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive.”

But according to court documents recently filed in the case, the name “Hutaree” was made up by one of the militia leader’s sons as a joke.

It’s not clear from Clough’s plea if he will have to testify against his former militia friends if they take their cases to trial, now set for early next year.

In pleading guilty, Clough admitted he was a member of the Hutaree Militia on Feb. 20, 2010, as the antigovernment group “advocated and prepared for violence against local, state and federal law enforcement.”