At that meeting, the group voted on whether the Sons of Issachar should be part of the Peacemakers Militia. Eight of the 10 men voted they did not want to be part of the militia.

After the meeting, Clark said he was surprised to get an email from Cox with a list of possible militia duties for members of the Sons of Issachar that asked them to clarify whether they were in or out.

Clark formally quit the militia with an email signed “driven out.” He said the Sons of Issachar had recognized Cox as a leader but had failed to keep him from “succumbing to the seductive quality of power.”

These and many more emails related to the case were seized as evidence from the computers of the defendants and have been presented to jurors over the last week.

Clark said he only saw Cox in the next year once before Cox was arrested in March 2011, when Cox unexpectedly came to his office and said there was a federal hit team trying to kill him.

During cross examination, Cox’s attorney Nelson Traverso asked Clark if he believes Cox “does not believe in violence.”

“Yes I do,” Clark said.

Still following orders

Also called to the witness stand Wednesday was a sergeant in Cox’s militia who said he still considers Cox his commanding officer.

Gary Brockman described himself as retired civil servant who has worked at TSA, at Chena Lake and at Fort Wainwright, where he ran a motor pool at the U.S. Army post.

He met Cox at an anti-tax demonstration and later joined the Peacemakers.

During his testimony, he referred to the three defendants and other militia members by their ranks within the militia. Cox was “Colonel Cox,” co-defendant Coleman Barney was “Major Barney” and co-defendant Lonnie Vernon was “Sergeant Vernon.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Skrocki asked if he would still follow Cox’s orders if Cox was out of jail. Brockman said he would.

Skrocki had several questions for Brockman about two security teams for Cox which Brockman participated in during the fall of 2010.

One involved accompanying Cox to a court hearing at the Rabinowitz Courthouse. Another involved carrying a weapon and questioning people who came to the KJNP studio while Cox was inside doing an interview.

On the KJNP security team, Brockman said he stopped one woman who was upset about being stopped but agreed to show him her ID.

On cross examination, Brockman said he was never instructed to shoot anyone. Asked what would have happened if armed agents had come to the TV station, he said he would have laid down his weapon.

Brockman was not charged with any crime for his participation in the security teams.

Cox, Barney and Vernon are charged with conspiracy to commit murder and various weapons charges in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. The murder conspiracy is punishable by up to life in prison.