Integrating the Derivative

Warren Jeffs Arrested in Nevada September 10, 2006

The FBI probably breathed a sigh of relief today when Warren Jeffs, leader of a fundamentalist Mormon sect, was arrested during a traffic stop.

Warren Jeffs, the fugitive leader of a fanatical polygamous sect and one of the FBI’s most wanted men, had told his 10,000 followers he would never be taken alive. His words raised fears that he might try to conclude his fearsome reign in a blaze of glory. But the end, when it came, was far more mundane.After three years on the run, his red Cadillac was pulled over just north of Las Vegas late on Monday night by a traffic police officer who noticed his licence plate was not fully visible.

It’s a good thing they caught him during a traffic stop and not in a firefight. Some of the “godly” acts that he allegedly performed during his reign of terror include:

Mr Jeffs is wanted in Utah on charges of being an accomplice to rape for forcing an underage girl to marry an older man. He has been indicted for a similar offence in Arizona. (…)

In that time, hundreds of teenage girls were allegedly shared out among Mr Jeffs and his male lieutenants. The 50-year-old leader is reported to have fathered more than 50 children by 40 wives.

Young boys, seen as potential sexual rivals to the elders, were driven outside the church’s main settlement on the Utah-Arizona border and abandoned. Twenty church members who rebelled against Mr Jeffs’ leadership were thrown out of the sect in 2004, and their wives and children were redistributed among the other men.

Sounds like a stand-up guy. Ugh.
Mr. Jeffs is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. The article describes some of the church’s practices:

Every FLDS member had to abide by an elaborate set of rules. No television, newspapers or outside influences were allowed. Long underwear had to be worn even in the ferocious heat of summer, and female members had to wear old-fashioned long gingham dresses. Children were taught to believe that Mr Jeffs was divinely ordained and infallible.

I remember seeing a report by Dateline or 20/20 on Colorado City, AZ which is owned almost completely by a fundamentalist Mormon sect. I’m not really sure if it was the FLDS church or not though. The church pretty much owned the entire town, including the police department. An authoritarian’s paradise. The people there lived exactly as the Guardian describes it. You can read more about the FLDS at Wikipedia.