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Historian of terrorism worried about rise in militia groups

As the last suspect in a plot to kill police was arraigned in court Tuesday, some experts say the number of militia groups has grown.

Joshua Stone, 21, will be held without bond until a hearing Wednesday. He peacefully surrendered Tuesday night in Michigan.

Authorities say the group plotted to kill police in hopes of touching off an uprising....

"It doesn't take a lot of fringe elements in a country this size to do an enormous amount of damage," said Tom Mockaitis, professor of history and terrorism expert, DePaul University.

Mockaitis and others say that the number of militia groups nationwide has grown.

While all do not all have identical ideologies, there generally are some common threads - distrust of a federal government seen as too powerful, anger over taxes and a poor economy and, in many cases, Mockaitis suggests a racial component - resistance to an African American in the White House.

"What worries me is not the lunatic fringe. It's the larger core of soft support in which these fish can swim, and say they draw energy from this larger pool of anger," said Mockaitis....
Read entire article at ABC News