Willie Ray Lampley

rdf:langString Willie Ray Lampley

rdf:langString Reverend Willie Ray Lampley rose to national attention in the United States of America as a self-proclaimed prophet, the head of the Universal Church of God (Yahweh) based in Vernon, Oklahoma which was part of the Christian Identity movement. Lampley was also the leader of a small far right paramilitary group called the Oklahoma Constitutional Militia. In November 1995 he (aged 65) and his wife Cecilia (aged 47), along with John Dare Baird (aged 53), and Larry Wayne Crow (aged 56) were arrested under charges of conspiracy to manufacture and possess a destructive device. According to the FBI their plan was to bomb abortion clinics, gay bars, federal buildings (including welfare offices of the Department of Human Services), the office of the Anti-Defamation League in Houston, Texas and the office of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama. According to court documents, Lampley intended to use a destructive device consisting of 'homemade C-4' made of ammonium nitrate, nitromethane, aluminum powder and a detonation device (made from toaster parts). Lampley's plans were interrupted when FBI informant, Richard Schrum alerted authorities that the homemade bomb was about to be tested at Elohim City. The FBI held that their foiling the plot "saved as many lives as what was lost in Oklahoma City".