Cox, the leader of the Alaska Peacemakers Militia, is on trial along with Lonnie Vernon and Coleman Barney for storing weapons including machine guns, grenades and illegally silenced handguns which were seized last year in raids by federal agents.
Prosecutors say the militia created the arsenal as part of an alleged “241” plot, which involved kidnapping two government officials for every militia member arrested or killing two officials for every militia member killed by law enforcement officers.
An initial point raised in Cox’s cross-examination, which began Tuesday afternoon, was the origin of his claim that he was targeted for assassination by federal agents -- a story prosecutors implied Cox may have picked up from Tim Turner, a figure in Lower 48 militia circles.
Cox said he never actually met Turner, but did talk to him on the phone a couple times and "may have been aware" that Turner had a similar story.
Cox took the stand at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. He praisedMartin Luther King Jr.and Mahatma Gandhi for their philosophies of passive resistance -- then answered questions from his defense attorney about a long list of weapons he owned, including a machine gun he built himself when he was a teenager.
In later defense testimony Cox almost broke into tears when he talked about his plans for him and his wife Marti to flee the country, which he called an attempt to avoid becoming a catalyst for violence that other militia members wanted to cause.
On Monday, Cox told defense attorneys he didn’t believe in violence, but that it could be justified “to stop someone from hurting someone.”
This is a developing story. Please check KTUU.com and the Channel 2 newscasts for updates.
Email Rhonda McBride and Kortnie Horazdovsky
