Son Of Constitutionalist Denies Dad Plotted Against Government

The son of 66-year-old Yuba City man charged with possessing 550 pounds of stolen explosives testified Thursday that his father isn’t involved in any anti-government plot and is merely a “paper tiger” who argues constitutional issues in court.

Christopher Weckner, 43, testified at a federal bail hearing that both he and his father, Vernon Weckner, are members of a citizen militia group.

But he said the Yuba-Sutter area association has no involvement or training in explosives and asserted that his father is just “a fisherman and an outdoorsman” who presents no danger to society.

The younger Weckner, who lives in Sacramento, asked U.S. Magistrate John F. Moulds to release his father into his custody. Moulds declined to rule on the matter and continued the detention hearing for Vernon Weckner and fellow suspect Kevin Quinn, 37, until Tuesday.

The two men face federal charges of possession of explosives and conspiracy in connection with a cache of “petrogel” - a gelatin dynamite - that was stolen from a bunker of Wyoming firm. It uses the explosives for oil and gas exploration projects.

According to a federal affidavit, a Wyoming man, Allan Wayne Carpenter, told authorities that he and Quinn stole the explosives and drove the petrogel to California, hoping to sell it.

On April 27, explosion ripped through the home of an Olivehurst man, William Goehler, and three days later authorities discovered more than 500 pounds of the stolen explosives in a motor home on Weckner’s property. While Vernon Weckner and Quinn face federal charges, Goehler and seven other people face state charges in the case.

Vernon Weckner - the elder figure of a local band of constitutionalists known as the Twin Cities Free Militia - has denied any knowledge of the explosives and said he didn’t know they were stored on his property. However, authorities said he had agreed to buy some of the stolen petrogel. Quinn was staying with Weckner when the two men were arrested.

In recent years, the elder Weckner, “a constitutionalist reporter” whose writings in a local publication warn of a New World Order takeover, has become a fixture at the Sutter County Courthouse - filing motions challenging the constitutionality of motor vehicle citations he received.

Christopher Weckner said he and his father are members of a “civilian militia,” whose purpose is to “extend our constitutional rights, uphold the law and check against arbitrary actions of the government.” He said his father served on an aircraft carrier during the Korean War and said both he and his father have battled alcoholism in past years.

Asked by defense attorney Robert Holley if their group advocated violence or an overthrow of the government, the younger Weckner said no, adding: “We are just paper tigers inside the courtroom.”