Episode 17-Fort Stewart Militia – Private Aguigui & The Rise of the FEAR Four – Soldiers Killing Soldiers
Ep 17: Fort Stewart Militia – Private Aguigui & The Rise of the FEAR Four – Soldiers Killing Soldiers
In 2011, Private Isaac Aguigui, an intelligence analyst stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia became a widower. His wife, Sergeant Deirdra Aguigui, who was 5-months pregnant with their son, died a few months after returning from Iraq (her death was unrelated to her deployment). It appeared that Private Aguigui was spiraling out of control after the death of his wife. He ranted to others who would listened that the Army killed his wife by prescribing medicine that caused blood clots. Private Aguigui found himself in trouble with the Army and spending a lot of time doing extra duty as punishment. It was while serving out his punishment that he met other equally disgruntled soldiers. Those soldiers were Christopher Salmon, Michael Roarke, Micheal Burnette, and Anthony Peden. Private Aguigui was able to manipulate these other men by having them buy in to his rhetoric that the Army and the U.S. government needed to be overthrown.
These five men, in collusion with others, formed a small but deadly militia. They called themselves F.E.A.R. Fear is an acronym that stands for Forever Enduring, Always Ready. F.E.A.R. had hefty goals, including assassinating the U.S. President, overthrowing the government, poisoning the Georgia apple orchard, bombing a local dam, and taking over the Fort Stewart ammunition control point.
But before they could attain their goals, they discovered a possible mole among the five close-knit men, 19-year old Michael Roarke. Roarke, who had been keen on wanting to deploy with the Army, joined the militia with promises that the group would restore order to the government. And Roarke was ALL IN! However, he soon met a 17-year old named Tiffany York, and everything changed. Tiffany soon moved in with Roarke. As Tiffany and Roarke got closer, Roarke realized the ideologies he once bought into with F.E.A.R. no longer rung true to his future goals. So, Roarke wanted out. Roarke had recently (December 2, 2011) been discharged from the Army and he wanted to secretly leave Georgia and start fresh with Tiffany in Washington state.
Private Aguigui discovered Roarke’s plans and feared Roarke would become a snitch. And this is where the remaining F.E.A.R. four members decided that Roarke had to die. Tune in to this episode to hear more about Private Aguigui, the creation and rise of the Fort Stewart F.E.A.R. militia, the murders committed by the group (and a prior, more personal, murder committed by their fearless leader), and their quick fall.
Mug Shots:
Isaac Aguigui (Top Left)
Christopher Salmon (Top Right)
Anthony Peden (Bottom Right)
Michael Burnett (Bottom Left)
Picture: Daily Mail
Sergeant Deirdra Aguigui (Pvt Aguigui’s late wife)
Picture: Daily Mail
This is the holiday video of Spc Deirdra Aguigui from Camp Ramadi, Iraq, November 10, 2010.
17-Year Old Tiffany York
Picture: Daily Mail
19-Year Old Michael Roarke
Picture: Daily Mail
Mug Shots:
Michael Burnette (Top Left)
Anthony Peden (Top Right)
Christopher Salmon (Bottom Right)
Isaac Aguigui (Bottom Left)
Picture: Wikipedia
Fort Stewart militia soldiers leaving the courthouse.
Christopher Salmon, Michael Burnett, Isaac Aguigui, Anthony Peden
Picture: Daily Mail
Episode 17: Resources
- Dickson, Caitlin, Daily Beast, “The Georgia Militia Murders.” July 11, 2017, https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-georgia-militia-murders (last accessed on 28 Jan 20).
- Labi, Nadya, The New Yorker, “Rogue Element.” May 19, 2014, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/05/26/rogue-element (last accessed on 28 Jan 20).
- Investigation Discovery, Deadly Devotion, Season 2, Episode 3, “The War Within.”
- https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/02/02/families-of-violent-soldier-militia-victims-awarded-4-million/
- Carter, Mike, Task & Purpose, “Army To Pay $4 Million To Families of Couple Killed By Soldiers Tied to Extremist Group,” February 1, 2018, https://taskandpurpose.com/army-pay-4-million-families-couple-killed-extremist-soldiers (last accessed on 28 Jan 20).
- “’FEAR’ victim’s family members seek $30-million from US Army.” March 28, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfBtNpFpBbY&t=85s (last accessed on 28 Jan 20).
- DVIDS video, Camp Ramadi, Iraq (Spc. Deirdra Aguigui, November 10, 2010, https://www.dvidshub.net/video/221269/spc-deirdre-aguigui (last accessed on 28 Jan 20).
- https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2013/fear-rising
- https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-seattle-army-trial-20170406-story.html
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2196000/Tiffany-York-Stepfather-girl-17-killed-soldiers-cover-plans-assassinate-president-lunges-court-District-Attorney-says-hell-seek-death-penalty.html
- https://www.wsav.com/news/last-fear-militia-member-sentenced-in-connection-with-2011-long-county-double-murder/
- https://www.wsav.com/news/soldiers-wife-pleads-in-fear-militia-murder/
- https://medium.com/hatewatch-blog/final-member-of-fear-terror-group-sentenced-80dd02cf4044
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/army-private-convicted-of-murdering-pregnant-wife/
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