Norm Olson‘s Uncanny Prediction

Oct. 30, 2002

Northern Michigan militia leader Norman Olson was on a roll last week, with media from across the country calling to follow up on his eerie prediction that a 42-year-old man named John with a military background would be arrested in the sniper case.
“Do you want me to pick a lottery number for you?” he asked in high spirits from his home in Alanson on Thursday morning, the day the sniper suspects were arrested.
A week ago, Olson sent a fax to the F.B.I. offering a detailed description of the snipers. With the arrests during the early hours of Thursday Oct. 24, some of the details he predicted rang true.
The problem, however, is that Olson was referring to a far different shooter, also named John, age 42.
Based on information from a source in the militia movement in the Washington, D.C., area, Olson’s tip was that the real killers were a sniper squad of anarchists, attempting to force martial law and spark a revolution.
“This is an ultra, ultra white supremacist zealot” who may be thrilled to learn that two black men have been arrested, Olson said.
Yet by last Friday morning, ballistics tests had nailed Muhammed and Malvo as the shooters in 11 of the 13 killings, putting the anarchist theory to rest.
Nonetheless, Olson’s theory offers an insight into what the media has called the “sniper culture.”
Olson, the former head of the Michigan Militia Corps Wolverines, sent a fax to the F.B.I. on Oct. 17, noting that “other Tim McVeighs move among us.” In the fax, Olson said that a “clandestine group known as the ‘Viper’” had been organized by a gun show hanger-on named John. “John leads a small cell group whose objective is anarchy,” Olson stated. “His stated purpose in killing civilians is to bring on martial law which will lead to revolution.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 23, prior to the arrests of the suspects, F.B.I. special agent Richard Licht of the agency’s Lansing office said Olson’s fax was initially lost in the torrent of information pouring into the Washington, D.C. area, but has since been routed to the proper authorities at the task force assembled to catch the sniper. The task force, in turn, reportedly assigned an officer from a “Violent Crime Squad” based in New York City to check out Olson’s tip, Licht said.
Agent Licht said that Olson’s information was particularly interesting because it is “very specific on the details” unlike many tips on criminal cases, which are often muddled. “We don’t know if this will lead to anything, but it had some real meat on it,” he added.
Olson said, however, that he had not been contacted by law enforcement officials as of Oct. 24, other than being tailed closely by a State Police cruiser.
Olson’s predictions have been hit and miss in the past. He revealed the extent of America’s militia movement in the Northern Express in August, 1994, but was also relieved of command of the Michigan Militia following the Oklahoma City bombing, for his claim that the Japanese were involved in the blast as retaliation for the C.I.A.’s nerve gas subway attacks in Tokyo.
He does offer some tantalizing information that didn’t get out to the mainstream media, however; claiming that a “Venus” tarot card was left at the scene of one of the killings and that the sniper his source was in touch with claimed that he would strike again near the Washington Monument this week.

Following is the fax message that Olson sent to the F.B.I. and Northern Express Weekly on Oct. 17:

“Memo For The Record
I am making the foIlowing announcement now, BEFORE the biggest American tragedy since Oklahoma City hits the streets.
It appears that other Tim McVeighs move among us. Members of an anarchist cell are responsible for the killings. They are not foreign terrorists. They are Americans.
Shortly, the police will attempt to arrest a man named John. John is approximately 42 years old, 5’11, 175 lbs., brown hair, mustache, wears glasses and smokes Camel filtered cigarettes. John is associated with Curtis and Barry and perhaps one other. John is the leader of a clandestine group known as the “Viper.”
John leads a small cell group whose objective is anarchy. His stated purpose in killing civilians is to bring on martial law which will lead to revolution. In August, John stated, “People must be moved from a position of comfort to a position of panic.” John has created two two-man sniper teams using different vehicles to kill quickly in different areas. The weapons are indeed AR15s systems.
For the record, I passed the details of this entire operation and the identity of the leader of the killing team to the FBI on 17 Oct. 02. Tragically, John has met casually with some good people within the militia movement and frequently attended gun shows in the North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia area. Sadly, the few militia members who heard his words did not take John seriously when he bragged of his plans to begin killing civilians. We do not know where he is. If we did, we would take it upon ourselves to stop him.
I am telling you this as a memo for record, to let you know that I have done what I could to try to stop this man. Do not blame the militia again as you did after Oklahoma City. We did not create John.”

Norman Olson, Senior Advisor
Michigan Militia Corps Wolverines