Turns out Klan member Glendon Scott Crawford had a plan to develop a remote control death ray using radiation from a truck-mounted X-ray machine. He would park in a populated area and remotely engage the machine, which would emit enough radiation to leave people dead two weeks after exposure.

This plan, which he pursued in order to "take his country back" -- you know -- from the Muslims -- hit a few snags.

The biggest snag was, that everybody he tried to recruit for his patriotic cause called the FBI behind his back.

Remember, kids, the first rule of anti-Muslim death ray development is, Trust No One!

Alternet reports that

Crawford initially took his ideas to two local Jewish organizations, proposing his device could used to kill enemies of Israel. He had hoped that by sharing his plan, the groups might offer the financial backing to help Crawford build his diabolical machine. Instead, someone affiliated with a synagogue reached out to the FBI, which immediately began an investigation.

Dang it! It was such a perfect plan. Offer the death ray to....the Jews...who
will, of course, give you big money for your brilliant idea.

Except they called the FBI. What happened next?

According to court records, Crawford also attempted to reach European defense leagues to spread the word about his plans.

"Hello, European Defense League? I'd like to talk to someone about funding my Death Ray."

The FBI was reportedly recording the call. Crawford finally realized he had to go underground and close to home. In an attempt to return to safe territory, he now limited his operation to fellow members of the KKK.

He was unaware that his co-conspirators were actually FBI agents.

Dang it! It's like once you start to pursue a remote control radiation dirty bomb death ray plot, the FBI is everywhere!

The prosecutor [dang it!] noted in court that "his plot to murder people he did not know was designed to, in his oft-repeated words, 'take his country back'."

It's really too bad. Crawford is a Navy vet who clearly got on the wrong side of some really bad xenophobic propaganda, or maybe he watched an Alex Jones YouTube. But remember, that was after he joined the Klan, so we have to assume there were earlier problems, too. And we also have to be very grateful that in this instance, no one was hurt. There are some dangerous people being exposed to dangerous ideas these days, and that part is not funny.

Driftglass suggests if only he had contacted Lex Luthor directly....

Instead he is going directly to jail for 30 years.