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Sect Elder Blasts 'Terrorist' Raid

'It does not require a foreign country to commit terrorist acts on American soil,' letter to Bush reads

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted May 12, 2008 3:06 PM CDT
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(Newser) – An elder of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints condemned the raid against a sect compound in Texas last month as a “terrorist act” in a letter to President Bush, CNN reports. Members of the FLDS have complained of the treatment of the families whose children were seized in the "intrusive invasion" by "a heavily armed militant force."

"Mr. President, it does not require a foreign country to commit terrorist acts on American soil. Terrorist acts can be committed by federal and local entities … operating under the guise of 'protecting the public,'” the letter from Willie Jessop reads. “We are talking about … unarmed fathers being forced to the ground with M16 rifles pointed at their heads, screaming children being torn from the arms of their grief-stricken mothers.”

This photo taken Thursday, April 3, 2008 by an unidentified member of the FLDS shows an armored personnel carrier on the Yearning For Zion ranch near Eldorado, Texas.
This photo taken Thursday, April 3, 2008 by an unidentified member of the FLDS shows an armored personnel carrier on the Yearning For Zion ranch near Eldorado, Texas.   (AP Photo/Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)
This photo taken Thursday, April 3, 2008 by an unidentified member of the FLDS shows an armored personnel carrier on the Yearning For Zion ranch near Eldorado, Texas.
This photo taken Thursday, April 3, 2008 by an unidentified member of the FLDS shows an armored personnel carrier on the Yearning For Zion ranch near Eldorado, Texas.   (AP Photo/Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)
This photo taken Thursday, April 3, 2008 by an unidentified member of the FLDS shows an armored personnel carrier on the Yearning For Zion ranch near Eldorado, Texas.
This photo taken Thursday, April 3, 2008 by an unidentified member of the FLDS shows an armored personnel carrier on the Yearning For Zion ranch near Eldorado, Texas.   (AP Photo/Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)
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Texas • polygamy • police raids • George W. Bush • Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints • Yearning for Zion ranch • sect

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