Bombing Suspect Shouts Warning In Court Merrell Tells Judge He’s Violating Yahweh, Chamber Full Of ‘Pagan Images’

An Idaho man accused of bombings and bank robberies in the Spokane Valley shouted religious threats Thursday at a federal judge.

Verne Jay Merrell told U.S. District Court Judge Frem Nielsen that he was presiding in a courtroom filled with “pagan images.”

“You’re in violation of the commandments of Yahweh!” Merrell told the judge.

Merrell, 51, appeared with co-defendants Charles H. Barbee, 42, and Robert S. Berry, 42, all of Sandpoint.

The three men are self-described Phineas priests who claim God commands them to commit violent acts that others call crimes. They practice a whitesupremacist religion known as Christian Identity.

Each faces 12 federal charges stemming from the bombings and robberies last April and July. Other suspects are being sought.

The bombs exploded at the Valley office of The Spokesman-Review, a Planned Parenthood clinic and a U.S. Bank branch that was robbed twice, netting $100,000.

“We’re ambassadors for the Kingdom of Yahweh!” Merrell declared at the start of Thursday’s pretrial hearing.

“We’ll deal with that later,” Nielsen responded, cutting Merrell off.

The judge granted a request by federal prosecutors Tom Rice and Stephanie Lister to require the defendants to pose for pictures and give handwriting samples to FBI agents.

“I’m not going to give you anything!” Merrell shouted.

He later refused to answer when the judge asked him if he intended to fire his attorney and represent himself.

Merrell said he only takes orders from God.

“I need no representation. I am here in the flesh and blood,” he said.

“I am a real entity. I am not an artificial entity, like you are. I’ve been dragged here in chains.”

Nielsen interrupted and said such outbursts will not interfere with the progress of the case.

Later, Merrell pointed to a large, bronze United States seal above the judge’s bench and said: “These are pagan images.

“The king of us all is on his way back.”

Because Merrell refused to answer, the judge said he assumed the defendant isn’t representing himself and directed attorney Aaron Lowe to continue on the case.

Barbee, who earlier sent the judge two letters firing his attorney, told Nielsen Thursday that he changed his mind and will be represented by federal defender Roger Peven.

“But I’m not giving up the right to access the court myself,” Barbee told the judge.

He said he and the two other defendants refused to stand when the judge entered the courtroom because “we feel that’s a gesture of obedience.

“We feel a little foreign here,” Barbee said in explaining his religious beliefs.

Barbee and the others have been in custody without bond since their arrests Oct. 8 near Yakima.

Barbee complained he is being held in jail separately from his co-defendants. “We’re denied the ability to use brainstorming.”

Barbee also accused the FBI and federal prosecutors of exaggerating the dangerousness of the defendants.

“We’re charged, but we haven’t been convicted of these things,” Barbee said.

Berry initially said he, too, intended to fire his court-appointed attorney, John Rodgers.

“He might represent you, but he doesn’t represent me,” Berry told the judge. “I’ll conduct my own defense.”

But after a brief recess, Berry changed his mind. Rodgers told the court he will make every attempt to explain Berry’s religious beliefs in representing him.

“This is a challenging case,” involving clients who have religious and political views “that don’t compute for the rest of us,” Rodgers said.

“You do hold beliefs that are somewhat different and somewhat unusual,” the judge told the defendants.

“Nobody, though, is telling you that you have to represent any particular entity or God,” Nielsen added.

, DataTimes