Army Ranger Buddies Rob Bank

A South of Tacoma Bank of Amercia branch was robbbed Aug. 7, by four well armed men,with military-like precision. They wore ski masks, had automatic rifles and soft body armor under their jackets.

They were in and out in 2 minutes and 21 seconds - almost qualifying for the FBI's 2 minute rule, a term coined by the FBI in a reference to the minimum arrival time for first responders to a robbery-in-progress.

What sound like a bad script for number of films I've seen, they originally planned to rob a casino, these caught-on-tape commadoes were all caught within days of the caper. Besides not being old enough to legally buy beer, there is something else sets apart these not-so-special forces, these Soldiers of Fortune:

Not that the case needs another strange twist, but the real reason for the BOA raid, the accused man insists, was to expose war crimes and other military secrets.

The team 'purposely' got caught, he says, so they could draw media attention and be assured of coverage when they eventually air their allegations in court. To avoid going to prison, he intends to present issues of national security that would be embarrassing to the Army and Bush administration, he claims. His tortured logic: To expose abuses, he first had to get public attention, hence the bank job.

'One of the people implicated in the robbery is a witness to rape and the murder of 16 people at a battlefield interrogation facility, which makes Abu Ghraib [prison] look like kindergarten,' said the accused man, who spoke at times in the third person and referred to 'hypotheticals' when discussing the heist so as not to directly admit any role.

'Another [accused robber] has electronic access to the locations of 65 CIA prisons around the world. Sixty-five! There's a lot of shit out there that has to get said.'

He wouldn't discuss why robbing a bank seemed the best way to expose such allegations, and didn't respond when asked if he had tried any other way to get the information out. He insisted he wasn't making it up as a last-ditch defense.(emphasis added)

This is one of the most unusual excuses for a crime I have ever heard of, however if their reason is true, surely there must be less demented ways of getting attention to their story.

What's stranger is the get-a-way driver was member of Pat Tillman's Batallion of Rangers and he used his own car. That kind of stupid can get someone killed.

Anyhow, it will interesting to see what develops from the follow up - if there is any.


(via Akkam's Razor)