I suggest you read this edition of CC NEWS in reverse order. Read the article on Mr. Shoemaker below, then come back to me here. Okay..back? Well, what do you think? On one hand I have to admire Mr. Shoemaker, on the other, I feel doing a "Death By Cop" thing will hurt gun rights. On a positive note, I certainly do not think the Police will let Mr. Shoemaker get anywhere near downtown Galesburg. He'll be arrested as soon as he steps off his property. That is my guess.

With luck this will turn out to be a UUW case. I am trying contact Mr. Shoemaker to convince him to let some of us march with him and to see to it that he is arrested peacefully. This should be no different than any other civil rights march. It would be our obligation to provide for his criminal defense and hope in doing so we get the Safe Neighborhoods Act UUW provisions ruled unconstitutional.

I will not support a march to the death as unfortunately what Mr. Shoemaker proposes is suicide, not martydom. That said, I really feel for Mr. Shoemaker. Clearly he has been pushed to his limit and beyond. If anyone knows him please put him touch with me. I think his plan up to the point of drawing down on the police is an excellent one.

At this time, I am planning on going to Galesburg for Mr. Shoemakers 9am march if for no other reason to make sure he's treated fairly and to pray that Mr. Shoemaker relents and allows himself to be peacefully arrested.

By Stephen A. Martin The Hawk Eye

Arms: 'Burned out' leader says he will resist arrest 'violently and immediately.'

OQUAWKA, Ill. -- Calling on his followers to kill the "enemies of freedom," Western Illinois Militia leader Dan Shoemaker said he's prepared for a fight June 17.

Shoemaker has scheduled an armed one-man demonstration for that day on the public squares in Galesburg, Ill., and Monmouth, Ill., to protest laws that limit where firearms can be carried -- a demonstration law enforcement officials say they're prepared to stop.

"I'm stating for the record that all members of the Western Illinois Militia now have the uninfringed right to keep and bear arms," Shoemaker told those gathered at a rural Oquawka farm Saturday. "I will risk all that I have to publicly demonstrate that freedom."

Shoemaker said that right is derived from the U.S. Constitution and its Second Amendment guarantee of a right to bear arms. Gun control advocates say that right only refers to the ability of states to arm their National Guards. Opponents of gun control say it was intended to apply to all citizens.

Illinois law prohibits carrying a weapon within a city unless it is unloaded and disassembled or put in a case.

After five years of leading the group, estimated at between 50 and 200 members, Shoemaker said he is "burned out" and tired of what he called a "hot, psychological war" between police and his self-styled group.

"On June 17, perhaps I will again be renewed," he said.

But he said it's equally likely he'll be killed -- and that's something he's ready for, if necessary.

"I will live free or die," he said.

If his protest results in the latter, he said, the authorities should be warned about what could happen next.

"For five years I have held good soldiers back," he said. "On June 17, I will be the point man. If the enemies of freedom attack, there will be no one to hold them back."

Shoemaker spoke to a half dozen uniformed members of his group, who carried various assault-style weapons from variations of the AK-47 to semi-automatic versions of the U.S. Army's M-1 and M-16. Others were dressed in jeans and T-shirts, and supporters said there were other militia members who either were hiding in the surrounding woods keeping a lookout against authorities or had deliberately decided not to be present.

Most said they intended to be "in the area" during the June 17 protest, but declined to say exactly where.

Shoemaker said he's seen other groups in the self-described patriot movement dispersed or otherwise rendered ineffective.

In one case, he said, a militia leader and his family were found dead at the bottom of a lake after being handcuffed and having plastic bags fastened over their heads with duct tape.

Shoemaker blamed the deaths on government agents threatened by the man's teachings, and asked how such a man -- a former special forces commando in the U.S. Army -- could have been overpowered by his assailants.

"They probably knocked on the door ... and showed their badges," he said.

He said that's why he'll refuse to give up his gun if police attempt to arrest him Saturday, and why he'll resist "violently and immediately."

"They have pushed us far enough," he said. "It is time for us to draw the line."

Shoemaker said none of those who formed the militia group with him in 1995 are still active members. Most left after three years -- the length of time he said it takes for most people to give up after what he described as systematic harassment by authorities.

Every day, he said, he wakes up and wonders if those authorities will be coming to his house to harass or imprison him.

"I think, damn, they're not coming today," he said.

The demonstration, set to take place at 9 a.m. in Galesburg and later that morning in Monmouth, will bring the fight to those authorities and force them to decide, he said.

Shoemaker said they can decide to allow his protest, which he equated with upholding the constitution, or to stop it.

He called on law enforcement officials not to create a situation where "open warfare" could break out on the streets of the two cities, but said any agency that opposes constitutional freedom should be wiped out to the last man.

"Don't stop killing the enemy until they are all dead," he said.

Shoemaker spoke from a make-shift stage next to an American flag, where he introduced the men who would take over in the case of his capture or death.

Kenny Butler, the militia's next-in-command, asked those gathered to look at the hummingbirds that flew around the feeders hanging from trees in his yard.