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Man accused of firing shots in Batavia mobile home park previously accused of terror plot in Texas

By Howard B. Owens
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Reader-submitted photo.
robert james talbot
Robert James Talbot, Jr.

A 48-year-old man accused on Wednesday of firing a gun at an unoccupied car at a mobile home park in Batavia was accused in Texas in 2014 of plotting an insurrection and planning the mass murder of men, women, and children at a mosque in Washington D.C.

Robert James Talbot Jr., who attended Pembroke High School and once lived on Pratt Road in Batavia, was admitted in Federal Court in 2014 to attempted interference with commerce by robbery and solicitation to commit a crime of violence and was sentenced to Federal Prison in November 2015.

State troopers arrested him on Wednesday following an investigation into an incident at Babcock Mobile Home Park, 5066 Clinton Street Road, Batavia, and charged with reckless endangerment in the first degree, criminal mischief in the third degree, and two counts of criminal possession in the fourth degree.

The vehicle was apparently struck six times by bullets. State Police gathered forensic evidence to determine where the shots had been fired from, along with interviews, which led to the arrest of Talbot. Talbot was allegedly found in possession of a Savage Mark II .22 LR Rifle and an H+R 1871 Pardner Pump 20-gauge shotgun.

According to court documents from 2014, Talbot created a Facebook page in 2013 called the American Insurgent Movement, where he shared his plans and tried to recruit "like-minded" people.

He reportedly recruited undercover FBI agents.

Then a Katy, Texas resident, he said his goal was to “to restore America Pre-Constitutionally and look forward to stopping the Regime with action by bloodshed.”

According to the documents, he planned to fund his insurgency by robbing banks and to kill everybody working for banking cartels.

He also said he wanted his recruits to use full-automatic AK-47s to send the "Muslim brotherhood a message they will never forget."

He also wrote a manifesto that said, “We must rebel. There is no other option no. Blood and bullets are the only two things that will change this world, short of divine action.”

NYSP investigators have not shared any information about Talbot's possible motivation for firing gunshots at the 2016 Ford Explorer, which did have the appearance of a law enforcement vehicle.

The date of his next court appearance has not been released. As of Thursday morning, he was being held pending arraignment in Centralized Arraignment Part Court.  His current release status is unknown.

State Police said he has no known residential address.

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