Militia Members Claim Protester Ambushed Want Investigation Into Shootout, Arrest Of Fugitive Tax Protester

The Militia of Montana cried ambush Wednesday and called for an investigation into the shooting of Gordon Sellner, a tax protester accused of trying to murder a deputy sheriff three years ago, as Sellner was arrested at his home Tuesday.

“There are a lot of serious questions that need to be answered, and we want to make sure that a citizen of this state is not being wronged,” said militia co-founder Randy Trochmann.

He said Sellner’s neighbors feel Sellner was ambushed in Tuesday’s raid at Sellner’s home in the Swan Valley of western Montana. Sellner’s daughter, Pam Sellner Hood, said her father was wounded while he was target shooting, not in a gun battle with lawmen.

Lake County Sheriff Joe Geldrich said his deputies and state agents were trying to capture Sellner peacefully when Sellner spotted them and began shooting. Sellner has been an open fugitive for three years, living at home and threatening to shoot any law officers who tried to arrest him.

Geldrich said he has tried for three years to persuade Sellner to surrender in hopes of avoiding an armed siege like those that developed when federal agents moved against white separatist Randy Weaver in Idaho and the Branch Davidians in Texas.

The sheriff said undercover agents had been buying lumber at Sellner’s sawmill for six weeks, hoping he would drop his guard with a customer and could be nabbed without violence.

“We had been there probably six or eight times,” Geldrich said. “They (Sellner and two sons-in-law) were armed and we were just waiting for the opportune time to jump him.

“That’s what we were doing yesterday - waiting to go in and make another purchase to see if we could get the jump on him - when he spotted, or thought he spotted, our backup team in the woods.”

Geldrich said Sellner fired an AR-15 assault rifle into the woods near approaching sheriff’s deputies and was shot by one of the officers.

“We didn’t expect to be fired upon, but we knew they were very committed and would definitely resist if it wasn’t done properly,” Geldrich said.

Sellner, 57, was wounded and his sons-in-law, Jason Hood and Ray Yates, were arrested at the sawmill without resistance, Geldrich said. Sellner’s wife, Roberta, surrendered that night in Kalispell and was returned to Lake County Wednesday.

She and the sons-in-law are charged with obstruction of justice and were held under $50,000 bonds.

Sellner was flown by helicopter to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.

Sellner is being held without bond on a charge of attempted murder in the June 1992 shooting of Missoula County sheriff’s deputy Bob Parcell. Sellner contends he fired in self-defense, even though he fired first.

Trochmann said the militia is setting up a defense fund for Sellner and his family, even though Sellner is not a militia member.

The militia sent a five-page report to its members Wednesday, with their narrative of the raid and search of Sellner’s house.

It concluded: “If you would like to help stop over zealous, aggressive and overly paranoid law enforcement, send your generous donation to Gordon Sellner’s daughter, Pam Hood.”

Despite Sellner’s anti-tax, anti-government stances, Mike Batista of the state attorney general’s office said Sellner was not connected to any militia groups in Montana and had rejected attempts to link him with other protest groups.