Briefs: July 29

Hate Reborn: Earlier in the year, SFR reported that hate groups in New Mexico were lying dormant and that New Mexico topics on the popular white nationalist message board, stormfront.org, had been reduced to one kooky individual looking for an Aryan mate.

In recent months, the Stormfront threads have picked up again, with several individuals—including a self-identified University of New Mexico grad student—openly trading contacts, particularly for the fringe group Frontline Aryans.

One Frontline organizer, Justin Argabright, was sentenced to six months probation related to 2007 charges of aggravated assault, disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly in Albuquerque. Argabright has since left New Mexico but has plans to return soon.

"I had a bunch of like-minded friends," Argabright writes on the forum. "Im coming back for a visit and can introduce you all to strengthen your numbers."

Court Order: Scott Owens, the 27-year-old man accused of killing four teenagers in a June 28 DWI-related car accident, makes his second court appearance this week.

According to the New Mexico Courts database, the preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 30 in Santa Fe County Magistrate Richard Padilla's courtroom.

The last time Owens appeared in court for his June 30 arraignment, a group of teenagers attended and expressed the intent of assaulting him. Owens appeared via video rather than in person.

Avree Koffman, the driver of the teens' vehicle and the accident's sole survivor, was recently released from the hospital. Toxicology reports for Koffman released this week show she had an inactive amount of marijuana in her bloodstream at the time of the accident and was not impaired. Her father is an advertising account executive at the Santa Fe Reporter.

Missile Command: Netfires, LLC (a partnership between defense contractors Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin) is one step closer to completing one of the deadliest weapons known to man.

On July 22, Netfires announced it had successfully tested its "Non Line-of-Sight Launch System Precision Attack Missile" on a moving target for the first time at White Sands Missile Range. The weapons system, which can fire 15 missiles in five-second bursts from the back of a truck destroyed a moving tank 5.6 miles away using infrared imaging.

The $1.1 billion NLOS missile system is one of 14 projects that comprise the US Military's Future Combat Systems program.

Santa Fe Reporter