Page 345 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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did the actual shooting and David Lane drove the Flynn, Kevin, and Gary Gerhardt. The Silent Brotherhood:
getaway car. Scutari also took part in the robbery of an Inside America’s Racist Underground. New York: Free
armored car in Ukiah, California, that netted the group Press, 1989.
$3.8 million. “White Supremacist on Most-Wanted List.” New York
Times, October 1, 1985.
As head of security, Scutari developed a system of
rules, code names, and contact telephone numbers.
With his share of the Ukiah robbery money, he pur-
chased sophisticated equipment, including a second SEAL TEAM SIX
voice stress analyzer, surveillance equipment, and tele-
phone scramblers. Often ridiculed by other Order mem- aka Naval Special Warfare Development Group
(NSWDG), Dev Group, DEVGRU, MOB Six, MARESFAC
bers because of his swarthy complexion, he eventually
became Mathews’s most trusted confidant and adviser.
Scutari tried to convince Mathews to drop Thomas SEAL Team Six is the original name of the U.S.
Martinez as a member when Martinez refused to take Navy’s top-level special operations commando group;
a voice stress test. Martinez claimed it was too dan- it is responsible for counterterrorist operations
gerous to meet with Scutari and Mathews because he worldwide. The group is now referred to as the Naval
was under surveillance; in fact, Martinez was cooper- Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU.
ating with federal agents and feared he would not be SEAL Team Six was founded, in part, in response to
able to pass the test. Mathews, however, did not take the failure of Operation Eagle Claw, the April 1980
Scutari’s advice. Martinez later played a crucial role attempt to rescue hostages in Iran.
in the downfall of both Mathews and the Order. Navy SEAL Teams, named for their sea-air-land
In November 1984, with the FBI on their trail, Scu- capabilities, had been involved in clandestine opera-
tari, Mathews, and other members of the Order fled to tions and unconventional warfare methods since the
Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington State. early 1960s. By the late 1970s, SEAL Teams One and
Although Mathews was killed during a standoff Two were already engaged in counterterrorism train-
with authorities on the island, Scutari and other ing. SEAL Team Two, in particular, had appointed
members had earlier managed to escape the FBI’s net. two platoons, referred to as MOB Six, that were
Eventually making the FBI’s “most wanted” list, Scu- developing more advanced techniques. In the wake of
tari was the last Order member to be taken into custody Operation Eagle Claw, the decision was made that,
(March 1986)—all the others had been arrested by like the Army’s Delta Force, only one official naval
April 1985. Scutari was traced through an alias while counterterrorism group was needed. Thus, in October
working as a garage mechanic in San Antonio, Texas. 1980, SEAL Team Six was born. (Much of MOB Six
Although Scutari had previously vowed that he would was incorporated into SEAL Team Six.)
not be taken alive, he was arrested without incident. SEAL Team Six (ST6), which was named to con-
Scutari pleaded guilty to most of the charges, but fuse Soviet intelligence about how many SEAL
denied any involvement in the Berg assassination. He Teams existed, immediately began to train with
was sentenced to 60 years in prison for robbery, rack- the world’s top counterterrorist forces, including
eteering, and conspiracy. In 1987, he was found not Germany’s Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG-9), Britain’s
guilty of violating Berg’s civil rights. A federal crack- esteemed Special Boat Squadrons (SBS), and
down called Operation Clean Sweep brought Scutari France’s combat divers. By spring of 1981, ST6 was
and 13 other defendants, some of them members of deemed ready for combat.
the Order, to trial in 1988 on sedition charges; they At that time, the administration of U.S. president
were found not guilty. Ronald Reagan had begun to step up governmental
support for military special operations groups. In
See also ROBERT JAY MATHEWS; THE ORDER; WHITE
1983, ST6 was deployed to the U.S. embassy in
SUPREMACY
Beirut to investigate vulnerability to terrorist attack.
Ninety days after ST6 reportedly infiltrated and
Further Reading planted “bombs” in the embassy, revealing serious
Extremism on the Right. Rev. ed. New York: Anti-Defama- security problems, an actual car bomb destroyed the
tion League of B’nai B’rith, 1988. building. ST6 was deployed for various other actions