Columbus Guardian, January 1996

COLUMBUS, OHIO — The man who called himself “Commander Pedro” ran a gang of bank robbers that struck across the Midwest in 1994 and 1995. He wore disguises, including a dress and a wig, during the robberies. His real name was Peter Langan, and federal prosecutors say he was also the leader of a white supremacist group called the Aryan Republican Army.

Langan was arrested in January 1996 after a gunfight with FBI agents outside Columbus. Federal prosecutors have charged him and six other ARA members with 22 bank robberies in seven states. The case offers a window into the shadowy world where the antigovernment militia movement and white supremacist organizations intersect.

“This is a domestic terrorist organization,” said Don Flickinger, the FBI agent who led the investigation. “They were planning to use the bank robbery proceeds to fund a revolution.”

The ARA’s ideology blends Christian Identity theology — which holds that whites are God’s chosen people and that Jews and nonwhites are subhuman — with the antigovernment politics of the militia movement. Langan himself is said to have declared war on the “ZOG” — the “Zionist Occupied Government” — a term used by white supremacists to describe the federal government.

ARA members have also been linked to the Oklahoma City bombing. Michael Brescia, one of the ARA members arrested, was identified by witnesses as having been seen with Timothy McVeigh before the bombing. Prosecutors have not charged Brescia in the bombing, but the connection has raised questions about the ARA’s role in the worst domestic terrorist attack in American history.

“We don’t know yet how deep this goes,” said one federal law enforcement official who asked not to be identified. “We’re still pulling on threads.”

The ARA robberies were notable for their boldness and their violence. In several cases, ARA members fired weapons during the robberies, though no one was killed. In one robbery, an ARA member threw a pipe bomb at a pursuing police officer.

Langan’s arrest came after an FBI informant within the ARA began providing information to federal agents. The informant, whose identity has not been disclosed, is said to have been crucial in identifying Langan as the group’s leader.

At his arraignment, Langan represented himself, refusing to enter a plea and arguing that the court had no jurisdiction over him. He invoked the language of the common-law movement, declaring himself a “sovereign citizen” not subject to federal law.

His trial is expected later this year. Federal prosecutors say they plan to seek the death penalty.