The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord, also (and better) known as the CSA, was a radical organization formed in 1971 in the small community of Elijah in northern Arkansas.
Leadership
The founder of the CSA was Jim Ellison, who was jailed for a period of time, where Robert G. Millar became his spiritual advisor, who was the founder of Elohim City. After Ellison was released from Prison, he moved to Elohim city for a period of time, where he married Millar's granddaughter.
Purpose
The CSA was an organization that believed doomsday was imminent, and the 250-acre compound that was set up in Elijah became a community for its members. There they trained their members in paramilitary operations. The group strongly believed in White Supremacy, and held a particularly strong sense of anti-Semitism. They believed that the United States Government needed to be overthrown, and expressed the need to eliminate federal agents and all those who are involved in the workings of the government.
Operations
After it was set up, the CSA began targeting local and federal agents, including the sheriff that was part of the later siege on the organization and the U.S. Attorney, [Asa Hutchinson], who would negotiate a peaceful conclusion to the siege and later prosecute CSA members. They would monitor their homes and actually practice mock assassinations of the targets with scopes. They obtained many weapons for their training. By the end of their operations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) obtained 155 Kruggerands, one live light antitank rocket, 94 longuns, 30 handguns, and 35 sawed-off shotguns and machine guns, and one heavy machine gun. Plenty of the arsenal was stolen. In 1983, CSA members attempted to dynamite a natural gas pipeline, without success.
The CSA also had links with other radical organizations, including the Aryan Brotherhood, and The Order, which were both dangerous anti-Semitic organizations. Many of their members were seen travelling in and out of the compound, and after search of the compound, several stolen vehicles including one belonging to The Order were recovered.
Things began to go downhill for the organization after one of their members, Richard W. Snell, was arrested for killing an African-American police officer. Snell was later tied to a killing of a gun store owner in 1981, using and obtaining the very same gun. After the incident with Snell the FBI began hunting for ways to infiltrate the CSA compound and stop the organization they deemed dangerous. They finally obtained warrants with Arkansas state law to arrest Ellison, the leader of the CSA, for multiple firearms violations.
The ATF set up what is assumed to be around 300 FBI officers in Elijah, having them pose as "Fisherman" because of the common fishing in the area, not to offset the CSA. On the morning of April 20, 1985, they moved in and surrounded the CSA compound, putting some in fishing boats to seal off the lakeside area of the Compound. There they waited, until a few hours later 2 guards emerged from the compound. They appeared to be unaware of the presence of the Officers, and walked towards a sniper hold-out, until finally an officer yelled something in the manner of "We are the FBI. Go back inside the compound,." with which the guards complied. Later an unnamed individual emerged from the compound and talked with the FBI soldiers and reported to Ellison that the FBI were outside to negotiate his surrender and the emptying of the Compound. Ellison emerged later, and FBI agents realized he was ready to go down with a firefight, but the FBI Negotiators convinced him that CSA would certainly fail if they had one. They convinced him they wanted peaceful cooperation, and he asked that his spiritual advisor, assumed to be Millar, come to the compound to instruct him. The individual was flown to the area and seemed eager to convince Ellison to stand down, understanding otherwise it would create certain bloodshed. They allowed the individual into the compound, and the FBI instructed him to call in every 30 minutes to report how negotiations were going. After several calls requesting more time, early in the morning of the 4th Day of the Siege, Ellison, his command, and all of the males of the compound emerged, and surrendered themselves to authorities. Women and Children were later evacuated. The FBI agents then searched the compound.
Charges
Ellison and most of his leadership were charged for illegal weapons possession, and Ellison faced the Maximum 20 Years prison sentence. Ellsion was later released in 1987 in a negotiation with officers where he testified against the leader and several head members of the Aryan Brotherhood. He now lives in Elohim City. Snells, the man who shot the police officer and Gun Store owner, was sentenced to Death by lethal injection, which was administered the same day as the Oklahoma Bombing.
Possible Ties to the Oklahoma Bombing
There are several claims that the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City Bombing was tied to the COE Siege have come about. Timothy McVeigh was tied to several radical religious organizations. Also, the Oklahoma City Bombing occurred very close to the 10-year anniversary of the Siege of the CSA compound. But the most frightening link is that Snells, who was executed the day of the bombing, had planned a similar attack on the Murrah building in 1983 after becoming upset with the IRS. During the building of the Bomb-Rocket they planned to destroy the building with, it exploded in their hands, and the members saw it as a "sign from God" that they should not carry out the attack.