Jury selection begins in trial of Florida 'race war' planner

[September 09, 2014]  By Barbara Liston
 
 ORLANDO Fla. (Reuters) - Jury selection is set to begin on Tuesday in the Florida trial of an alleged ringleader of a white supremacist group that was broken up in 2012 while training near Orlando and Disney World for a "race war".

Marcus Faella, 41, is charged with paramilitary training and shooting into a structure in Osceola County.

Prosecutors said Faella is a member of the American Front, a nationwide, military-style, skinhead organization, which is modeled on Britain's far right, whites-only National Front.

Faella was arrested in 2012 after an informant infiltrated his heavily fortified center for the AF on his isolated property in St. Cloud, about 11 miles from the Walt Disney World theme parks, according to an arrest affidavit.

It said Faella had been "planning and preparing the AF for what he believes to be an inevitable race war" and had stated "his intent ... to kill Jews, immigrants and other minorities".

The St. Cloud compound was shut down and 10 people arrested after the informant came to believe his life was in danger, the affidavit said. Prosecutors have since dropped most of the charges.

Faella's lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Barbara Liston in Florida; Editing by Eric M. Johnson)

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