Jefferson City
The Missouri Highway Patrol has reassigned the director of a center that produced a report linking third-party candidates and some abortion opponents to militias.
The report, "The Modern Militia," caused a national furor last month after it was released to conservative radio commentator Alex Jones. Conservative groups and some Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, expressed outrage at the report, which they said targeted conservatives.
Documents obtained by the Post-Dispatch show that extremist groups of all kinds have been the subject of reports from the Missouri Information Analysis Center since 2006. Targets of the reports include black separatist movements, Islamic groups, anarchists, the National Socialist movement and "green anarchism."
The Missouri Information Analysis Center collects intelligence from state and federal agencies to combat terrorism and criminal activity. It was created under former Gov. Matt Blunt. The group came to the public's attention after "The Modern Militia" was released.
On Monday, the Highway Patrol announced the reassignment of the center's director, Van Godsey. He has been replaced with Lt. David A. Hall. In addition, a major in Missouri Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. James Keathley's staff will oversee the center.
After the Post-Dispatch filed a Sunshine Law request, the Missouri Highway Patrol released 11 of the 16 reports created since the center's inception. Lt. Steve Frisbie said the five other reports contain information about trooper tactics, which are closed under the Sunshine Law.
The center's reports, which are written by so-far anonymous analysts, also provide some insight into their sources, which include websites such as Wikipedia and religionfacts.com, as well as Supreme Court decisions and the Cornell University School of Law.
The released reports focus mostly on the history and background of various movements.
But critics of the center's most recent report say they'd like to see an outside investigation.
"This changes nothing," said Gary McElyea, a spokesman for Kinder. He said Kinder's questions about the authors and research of the report still haven't been answered. "If Missourians want an investigation on this cause, they have every right to have it done by their legislators," he said.
The Missouri Libertarian Party is lobbying for a bill sponsored by Rep. Jim Guest, R-King City, that calls for a legislative review of the reports.
Libertarian Party spokesman Mike Ferguson said Godsey's reassignment is a good step but that he believes outside oversight is needed. He said the militia report's mention of specific third-party candidates, including Libertarian Bob Barr, is unacceptable.
Mid-Missouri ACLU President Dan Viets said the chapter has concerns as well. "I just think they've gone too far here," he said.
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