Only the military should have guns????????????????

U.S. Ranger gave me AK-47: robber:
Date: Dec 9, 2006 11:54 AM
PUBLICATION: National Post
DATE: 2006.12.09
EDITION: All but Toronto
SECTION: News
PAGE: A10
BYLINE: David Bowermaster
SOURCE: McClatchy Newspapers
DATELINE: TACOMA, Wash.
ILLUSTRATION: Black & White Photo: FBI / Luke Sommer is a dual citizen.
NOTE: Ran with fact box "In His Own Words" which has been appendedto the
story.
WORD COUNT: 503

------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

U.S. Ranger gave me AK-47: robber: Canadian fighting extradition
fingered as heist ringleader

------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

TACOMA, Wash. - A former U.S. Army Ranger recruited people to rob a
bank, gave them loaded semi-automatic handguns and told them to lob a
grenade at police if officers arrived, a man involved in the heist told
investigators.

Luke Sommer, a dual American-Canadian from Peachland, B.C., was the
leader of the heist, according to Chad Palmer who was charged with
taking part in the robbery of a Tacoma bank in August and has pleaded
guilty to two charges. He has also provided investigators with details
of Mr. Sommer's alleged role.

Mr. Sommer was arrested in Canada a few days after the robbery and is
under house arrest at his mother's home. He is fighting extradition to
the United States. Mr. Sommer has not directly admitted his role, but
said this week that if he did organize the robbery, it was part of an
audacious plan to use the notoriety he would gain to expose war crimes
by the U.S. military in Iraq in 2004 and Afghanistan in 2005.

Palmer's admissions are a major break in the government's investigation.
He is the first of the five men accused of direct involvement in the
robbery to admit his role, and it appears he is providing critical
details to investigators about how the bank robbery was planned and
executed.

A private 1st class from Chesapeake, Va., Palmer, 21, pleaded guilty on
Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to one count of armed bank
robbery and one count of brandishing a machine gun during a crime of
violence.

Palmer told investigators that Mr. Sommer recruited him and the others
to take part in the robbery of a Bank of America branch.

At 5:15 p.m. on Aug. 7, four masked gunmen carrying AK-47s and
semi-automatic handguns stormed the bank and stole $54,000. They then
made off in a getaway car driven by a fifth man. One day before the
robbery, Palmer told investigators, Mr. Sommer gave him a loaded,
fully-automatic AK-47 to use during the heist. Palmer said Mr. Sommer
also provided loaded semi-automatic handguns to other participants.

Palmer told investigators the robbers inside the bank wore soft body
armor to protect themselves in case of a shootout with police.

Mr. Sommer also proposed that Palmer throw a hand grenade at the police
if law-enforcement officers arrived during the heist but Palmer
declined, according to prosecutors.

Government filings in the case do not indicate that investigators have
evidence that any of the alleged robbers had explosives during the raid.


However, Richard Olinger, another Army Ranger who is a friend of Mr.
Sommer, pleaded guilty last month to storing two hand grenades and a
homemade bomb for Mr. Sommer in a storage locker in Parkland a few days
before the robbery.

Palmer also discussed Mr. Sommer's motives with investigators. According
to Palmer, Mr. Sommer told him that he wanted to use the proceeds of the
robbery to start a crime family to rival the Hell's Angels in British
Columbia.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

Alleged bank robber and former U.S. Army Ranger Luke Sommer keeps a
blog. Get the details and more on this story under online extras.;
nationalpost.com




The Second Amendment IS Homeland Security !