Seven members of a Midwestern militia group accused of plotting to kill police were preparing for war against the US government, prosecutors told jurors Monday at the start of a federal trial in Detroit. Prosecutors laid out an array of weapons including assault rifles, military style helmets and bullet-resistant vests seized in the investigation and played video and audio recordings for jurors in their opening statement. “David Stone Sr. wanted a war,” Assistant US Attorney Christopher Graveline said of the group's leader, who is on trial with three members of his family and three others. In one video excerpt shown to jurors, Stone Sr. could be seen saying, “This war will come whether we are ready or not” and “We have to strike and take our nation back from tyranny.” Defense attorneys argued that the six men and one woman were part of a social club called the Hutaree who sought to defend themselves and did not view the government as an enemy.
