INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
Who is Mark of Michigan?By day, a dormitory janitor; after work, a militia propagandistBy
Desiree Cooper
|
There's a two-story, wooden house in the sleepy town of Dexter near Ann Arbor where a 37-year-old building custodian, his wife and four children make their home. The house is well-known to the neighbors for the large gatherings that are hosted there. But the meetings aren't church socials or supper parties; they're rallies of dozens of people--mostly male, nearly all white--who show up in military fatigues, carry high-powered weapons and who are convinced that their government is an enemy that must be destroyed. The question the world wants to know is: Just how far have they acted on those beliefs? And just what, if anything, has the occupant of this house, a man who radio listeners know as Mark of Michigan, done other than whip up hatred on the airwaves? The home is that of Mark Koernke, by day a janitor at a University of Michigan women's dormitory, but on his own time a leading propagandist for the Michigan Militia At-Large. Koernke produced and appeared in a 1993 videotape espousing views predicting violent confrontations between militias and the U.S. government. Many militia leaders, including the Michigan Militia's co-founder and official state commander, Norman Olson, have disavowed any connection with Koernke's views, but the video was widely embraced by militia members in Michigan and elsewhere to justify the need for citizens to take up arms and defend their individual liberties. Entitled "America in Peril," the tape details Koernke's theory that Americans need to defend themselves against the coming new world order--an oppressive world government led by the United Nations. President George Bush originally used the term to describe the new geo-political balance of power after the Cold War. According to Koernke, the federal government is facilitating such a takeover by forming a secret national police force comprising the National Guard, foreign troops (including Nepalese gurkhas in British employ, Dutch and Russians) and Los Angeles street gangs to disarm the public. The merging of international governments and financial interests has been occurring for 50 years, Koernke's populist views suggest. He claims to have evidence that this "one-world government" has spirited foreign troops into the United States, where they fly about in mysterious black helicopters awaiting the signal to take over the country and take resisters to awaiting detention camps. At one point in his tape, Koernke is shown with a Russian-made Kalashnikov rifle and a roll of nylon rope saying: "Now, I did some basic math the other day, not new world order math, and I found that using the old-style math you can get about four politicians for about 120 foot of rope. And, by the way, DuPont made this. It is very fitting that one of the new world order crowd should provide us with the resources to liberate our nation. "Remember, whenever using it, always try and find a willow tree. The entertainment will last longer." FRIGHTENING rhetoric to some, absurd comic extremism to others (at least until Oklahoma City), but a rallying cry for thousands. Wherever he speaks, Mark of Michigan attracts crowds eager to hear his theories. And militia sympathizers across the nation tune into Koernke's shortwave radio program, "Intelligence Report," broadcast 8-9 p.m. weekdays. His air time is bought by Viking International Trading Co., a precious metals company in Scottsdale, Ariz., whose owner, G. Michael Callahan, likes Koernke's message. As Mark of Michigan, Koernke performs unpaid, phones the show in live to Viking, which sends it by satellite to World Wide Christian Radio (WWCR), broadcasting at 5065 kilohertz from Nashville. On April 19, the day of the Oklahoma bombing, Koernke took to the airwaves to accuse the U.S. government of bombing the federal building to divert public attention from the decline of the dollar overseas and other signs of the new world order. A transcript of the broadcast which appeared on the Internet quoted Koernke as saying: "And for (Bill Clinton) to have the 'Butcher of Waco' (U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno) standing next to him, and to hear her ranting and raving about how she is going to deal with this.... Again, I challenge you: Is she going to treat these (accused), or whoever it is, the same way that she treated her executives for their butchery and murder of American men, women and children (at Waco) two years ago? I DON'T THINK SO! And so, I warn you all: Pay Attention. Get In Motion. Prepare Yourself." AUTHORITIES are now concerned that Koernke may have had prior knowledge of, and/or firsthand involvement in what could have been an act of retaliation for the Waco bombing. On Sunday evening, U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, held a news conference to confirm that he received a fax on the day of the bombing bearing the message:
CBS has since reported that federal authorities believe the fax was sent by Koernke, though his connection to Stockman, an ultraconservative freshman, is unclear. Of concern to federal authorities is the time on the fax: 8:59. It was not clear what time zone was meant; the bombing occurred shortly after 9 a.m in Oklahoma City, or 10 a.m. Michigan time. This is far from the first time Koernke has come to the attention of authorities. On Sept. 8, 1994, police in Fowlerville stopped a car at 2:30 a.m. which was weaving. Expecting to find a drunk driver, police instead found three men in camouflage who identified themselves as Koernke's "security." Gary Krause, Fowlerville's police chief, reported that the police found a .357 Magnum revolver, three semiautomatic 9 mm pistols, an AK-47 assault rifle, an M-1 rifle, an M-14, 700 rounds of ammunition, three gas masks and night vision binoculars, together with "notes which appeared to be class notes" on surveillance techniques and rules for engagement of the enemy. At the time of the arrests, Krause said he was concerned about Koernke and the direction of the Michigan Militia. "I see them going in the direction of the Posse Comitatus," he said, referring to a white racist group of tax protesters who believe the only legal government is county government. "They see a one-world order coming with NATO. They're doing surveillance and recognizance of police departments and communication facilities. "Excuse my language, but they've got a hard-on for the ATF, because it's the part of government which regulates weapons." BUT the arrests of Koernke's security guards was only the beginning. Reports soon surfaced that Koernke was masterminding an attack on Camp Grayling, a National Guard base in northern Michigan. According to news reports, Koernke and his followers were obsessed by Soviet-bloc armored vehicles at Camp Grayling, saying their presence violated U.S. sovereignty and represented an invasion threat. No attack occurred, and Koernke never spoke to the news media to deny or confirm involvement in the plan. Leaders of the Michigan Militia issued a statement in late February distancing themselves from Koernke and the Camp Grayling plot. Perhaps no one is better qualified to speak about the underbelly of the U.S. government than a former soldier. That's why Koernke is quick to identify himself as a former intelligence analyst for the military. According to military records, Koernke served as a soldier in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1977-85, and was assigned to a unit in Livonia. Military records also show that he was a qualified sharpshooter and hand grenade expert. But long after his military service, Koernke evidently maintained his interest in arms and surveillance. A Detroit Free Press review of court records showed Koernke was arrested for felonious assault in 1986 after three men claimed he pointed a gun at them in a Northfield Township traffic dispute. A judge later dismissed the charges. He also was arrested in Detroit for carrying a concealed weapon in 1984 and given a one-year deferred sentence, court records show. By the 1990s, Koernke had developed close ties to the Militia of Montana--headed by John Trochmann, who has been linked with the violently racist Aryan Nations. Koernke and Trochmann toured Montana together in December speaking to militia groups. Koernke's connection to the Oklahoma City bombing is not clear. What is clear is that some in the militia movement believe that an armed confrontation with the U.S. government is imminent. For them, the bombing may be the first shot in a war between the Michigan Militia At-Large and an oppressive U.S. government. In the words of their commander and spiritual leader, Mark of Michigan:
|